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Rating: 
Summary: without the magic of the other one
Review: I bought this book after the one in the foundations of fluid
dynamics one. I was a bit dissapointed since this text is not of the same standards. The author certainly is a leading expert in the field (which is not the case with fluid dynamics) and yet the fluid dynamics book is a class better.This one is very insightfull, but it is written not as a whole but
as disjoint pieces. The discussions are on the spot but very concise so not suitable for students but rather only for researchers. You need to knoe stas mechanics to get the most out
of it. And one comment in my mind physics is a branch of mathematics. I think that this late (after the war) practice
of separating math from physics is based on religious kind of
beliefs and it harms science. I hope that the author will find the time to write
a book about compressible fluids. It is much more needed
than books in stats mechanics, but then again is a MUCH
more difficult task.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but limited
Review: This is a refreshing book filled with the sorts of comments a good lecturer might provide during his lectures. It is probably not that good as a text itself, but might make an interesting optional readings book for a graduate class for this reason (and it is relatively inexpensive for books in this limited market). He is much more forthright about the classical/quantum measurement uncertainty issue than are most textbook treatments, and makes a lot of interesting points (such as that thermodynamics as taught usually really involves stationary distributions only). A nice interesting coverage of the basic issues, with much thought in evidence, and many loose threads to many issues in non-linear dynamics, insights into what is acutally going on, limitations of standard treatments, etc. There are also comments on the philosophical foundations of stat mech, and references to more or less recent solutions to important problems, giving a feel for work in the area. There are no exercises.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but limited
Review: This is a refreshing book filled with the sorts of comments a good lecturer might provide during his lectures. It is probably not that good as a text itself, but might make an interesting optional readings book for a graduate class for this reason (and it is relatively inexpensive for books in this limited market). He is much more forthright about the classical/quantum measurement uncertainty issue than are most textbook treatments, and makes a lot of interesting points (such as that thermodynamics as taught usually really involves stationary distributions only). A nice interesting coverage of the basic issues, with much thought in evidence, and many loose threads to many issues in non-linear dynamics, insights into what is acutally going on, limitations of standard treatments, etc. There are also comments on the philosophical foundations of stat mech, and references to more or less recent solutions to important problems, giving a feel for work in the area. There are no exercises.
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