Thermal Physics [Paperback]

This textbook provides a clear, instructive and highly readable introduction to thermal physics.This textbook provides a clear, instructive and highly readable introduction to thermal physics. Written by an experienced teacher, it provides a comprehensive grounding in thermodynamics, statistical mechanics and kinetic theory and also includes recent developments including Bose-Einstein condensation & critical phenomena. The modular structure allows a flexible approach to teaching and learning. Each chapter contains a summary of essential ideas, key equations are highlighted throughout and many problems of varying degrees of difficulty are included with a solutions manual available for instructors. Suitable for both undergraduates and graduates in physics and astronomy.This textbook provides a clear, instructive and highly readable introduction to thermal physics. Written by an experienced teacher, it provides a comprehensive grounding in thermodynamics, statistical mechanics and kinetic theory and also includes recent developments including Bose-Einstein condensation & critical phenomena. The modular structure allows a flexible approach to teaching and learning. Each chapter contains a summary of essential ideas, key equations are highlighted throughout and many problems of varying degrees of difficulty are included with a solutions manual available for instructors. Suitable for both undergraduates and graduates in physics and astronomy.Suitable for both undergraduates and graduates, this textbook provides an up-to-date, accessible introduction to thermal physics. The material provides a comprehensive understanding of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and kinetic theory, and has been extensively tested in the classroom by the author who is an experienced teacher. This book begins with a clear review of fundamental ideas and goes on to construct a conceptual foundation of four linked elements: entropy and the Second Law, the canonical probability distlÓË