Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics

This 1966 account of thermodynamics was written premaritally for theoretical physicists.

A. H. Wilson (Author)

9780521093644, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 January 1957

512 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.75 kg

First published in 1966, this account of thermodynamics was written primarily for theoretical physicists and for experimental physicists and physical chemists wishing to enter more deeply into the fundamental principles of the subject. Although it starts at the beginning of thermodynamics and covers elementary and advanced topics, the elementary ideas are treated from an advanced standpoint. The first four chapters deal with both the classical and the axiomatic development of thermodynamics, and the discussion of the first and second laws is elaborated in such a way as to provide a rational basis for the derivation of the fundamental principles of statistical mechanics in Chapter 5. The remaining nine chapters of the book consist of applications of thermodynamics and of statistical mechanics, either separately or combined, to a wide variety of problems. A special chapter is devoted to the third law of thermodynamics.

Preface
List of important symbols, units and physical constants
1. The classical development of thermodynamics. The first law
2. The classical development of thermodynamics. The second law
3. Thermodynamic functions
4. The axiomatic foundation of thermodynamics
5. Statistical mechanics
6. Some applications of statistical mechanics
7. The third law of thermodynamics
8. Imperfect gases
9. The heterogeneous equilibrium of a single substance
10. Electric and magnetic phenomena
11. Gas mixtures and chemical reactions
12. Solutions
13. Solutions of electrolytes and electrochemical systems
14. Further topics in solids
Index of subjects
Index of names.

Subject Areas: Physics [PH]