Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics/Book and Windows CD-ROM

Rating:
Summary: modern approach
Review: Many stat mech courses still use leaden, old-fashioned texts like Ma and Pathria that start by teaching thermodynamics, and that obsess on old issues that no one cares about any more. I strongly recommend that teachers using such books get out of their rut and look at a modern presentation. This book is very clear in its approach: thermodynamics is a consequence of statistical mechanics, not a separate subject, and there are no new fundamental laws. Thermo is discussed only after the foundations of stat mech have been laid out. It's also very good about introducing topics of more current interest (e.g. there are examples or problems involving stars, polymers, surfaces...) Finally, there are lots of worked-out problems in the back of the book. It's not a very advanced book (it starts to fail when it attempts to tackle superfluidity, renormalization group, etc., because it takes much more space to do this properly than is available). But the first 3/4 of the book is elegant, logical, complete and clear. It can be used for an undergrad or beginning grad class.

Rating:
Summary: Deep, Original, Example-Rich, but also a bit Remote
Review: This book was chosen for my undergrad thermo course for it's depth and originality, even if (as with most texts) use of it in teaching might benefit from providing alternate and simpler ways to introduce some of the key elements. Dr. Garrod is aware of contemporary developments on a variety of fronts, and hence provides handles that are absent in many of the texts currently available. More importantly, about HALF of the book consists of worked exercises. It has potential for both graduate and undergraduate applications, in which worked exercises and instructor material might be used to augment respectively the second and first halves of the book.