An Introduction to Thermal Physics

by Daniel V. Schroeder

This text looks at thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Part I introduces concepts of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics from a unified view. Parts II and III explore further applications of classical thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Throughout, the emphasis is on real-world applications. Table of I. FUNDAMENTALS. 1. Energy in Thermal Physics.
2. The Second Law.
3. Interactions and Implications.
II. THERMODYNAMICS. 4. Engines and Refrigerators.
5. Free Energy and Chemical Thermodynamics.
III. STATISTICAL MECHANICS. 6. Boltzmann Statistics.
7. Quantum Statistics.
8. Systems of Interacting Particles.
Appendix A. Elements of Quantum Mechanics.
Appendix B. Mathematical Results.
Reference Data.
Suggested Reading.

Genres: Physics, Textbooks, Science, Nonfiction, Mathematics, Reference, Academic

432 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 1999

Reviews

[ala · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be my favorite physics text book ever (on any subject). It's very readable - strikes a balance between big picture concepts and calculations. I also love how the book explains the connections between the microscopic description of statistical physics and macroscopic thermodynamics. (I wish I knew of a quantum mechanics text book that did this as well.)

I used this book intensively while struggling through my graduate Stat Mech class (in retrospect, my undergraduate engineering oriented class on thermodynamics was not adequate preparation), and I'm not sure I would have made it through pancreas...? pathogen...? oh, Pathria... (whatever -- at the time I'm pretty sure it made me feel sick in various vital organs) without it. Although I haven't taught an entire class on thermal physics I have drawn on it heavily when teaching units on entropy and heat engines. In all honesty, I'm not sure how much my students appreciate this, but I at least still appreciate the insights I get! (If only I had found Schroeder's book on Quantum Field Theory as illuminating!)

This book is geared towards advanced undergraduate physics majors, but like the Feynmen lectures, there are nuggets here that transcend the intended audience. Unlike the Feynmen lectures, this text is also helpful for solving actual problems. Highly recommended!

[Ian Durham]

If properly used and properly read, this is an amazing text that goes beyond merely being a text in that it provides a fresh interpretational approach to thermodynamics. It, and the journal article that serves as the basis for most of chapter 3, deserve more recognition from researchers. Pedagogically, it has to be used properly, but if it is it really gets the basic ideas across quite well. It's taken me a few years to really make it effective in my classes, but it's been worth it.

[Nick Davila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most relaxing textbook out there

[Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually finished a while back. Surprisingly good textbook for introductory thermal physics which give some very basic but useful statistical mechanics concepts to aid understanding. Has re-read values especially during undergraduates.

[Mark Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many good explanations of the physics - rather than just focusing on the mathematics, which is substantial. Now that I’ve read it once, however, I need to go back and read it carefully, solving all the problems. That is the only way to really learn a subject.

[Linnea · Rating 5 out of 5]

To echo what other posts have said, I think this might be my favorite Physics textbook....ever. As a Physics major, I've read a lot of crappy physics textbooks with too many equations and unintuitive explanations. This textbook is nothing like that. There is the perfect balance of clear, cohesive explanatory text, equations, and figures. I don't think I've ever been able to "read" a textbook like this before--I really can just sit down and read it WITHOUT falling asleep (a big feat). My classmates even mentioned that they started reading FOOTNOTES they enjoyed it so much. Anyway. If you're going to write a textbook, you should read this first. If you're trying to learn about Thermodynamics, this is a great place to start. Thanks, Daniel Schroeder!

[Rin · Rating 3 out of 5]

For reference: I read Ch 1-5 in detail but skimmed the rest. Our class only got through Ch 5 in one quarter. I think for those chapters it was a good read and helped understand the material in class. Science textbooks aren't fun to read, so 3* was as high as it was going to get anyway.

[Mostafa Alkady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most readable physics textbook ever? Probably

[Damian · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptionally well-written textbook that is easy to understand and follow, with ideas that are explained in simple language and in logical order, preceded by motivation for understanding the ideas in the first place.

[Junipero Verbeke · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the introduction:
“Ludwig Boltzman, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics. Perhaps it will be wise to approach the subject cautiously.”

[Fannie B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, and I really liked the multiple problems. However, I found the chapter 7 rather hard to understand, in comparison to the other chapters.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lacking majorly in rigor. Feels more like a chemistry book than a physics book at times. Even though the content is garbage, it’s very pretty garbage. The prose is interesting and chatty, which I quite enjoyed.

But I honestly have no idea why this book is so highly praised; I went through the entire book thoroughly to the point where I’m am able to easily derive everything as the book does, and completed 75% of the problems. Still, I feel like what I learnt was just a shell of what Thermal Physics and Statistical Mechanics should be.

Also, I don’t understand why people say the problems are difficult. The problems are nothing out of the ordinary for a physics major taking a statistical mechanics course in their junior or senior year; in fact, I feel like a lot of the problems are on the easier side and are simply just plug and chug.

From the chapters I’ve read of Blundell and Blundell, it seems to be better in every respect expect number of problems.

[Maynard Handley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a wonderful textbook. I was forced to use the execrable Kittel when I was an undergrad, and I blame that book on my lifelong contempt for thermodynamics. But Schroeder does the job properly, constantly explaining not just the math behind every piece of thermodynamics, but why anyone should care, what the value is of every next step performed.

I opened this up to get a feel for how statistical mechanics was being taught to undergrads these days, and planned to just skim a few pages. But I was so entranced and impressed I landed up reading the entire thing cover to cover, and substantially improving my understanding along the way. I only wish Schroeder had an advanced Statistical Mechanics text.

(BTW --- small world --- this is the same Schroeder of Peskin & Schroeder, everyone's first QFT textbook!)

[Sangeet. S · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brilliant insightful book that provides a fairly decent introduction to Thermal Physics at the expense of mathematical rigor.

The organization of this book feels all over the place with the author connecting topics from all around in what seems to be a constraint originating from the average organization.

In a way, this book seems like it is overdoing it, because of the above, but contains the exact amount of content that would be necessary for an undergraduate freshman or a sophomore in his/her first course in Thermal Physics.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fine supplement to the lots more cryptic text assignment by a professor. Schroeder writes well, and walked me through derivations in their context, which I found to be necessary at the undergraduate level. I went to another source for worked out problems.

[Ashiqul Dip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the most useful thermodynamics & statistical mechanics text book with excellent presentation and lots of humor.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this textbook very frustrating. Not nearly enough theory.

[Vigdis]

Seriøst, jeg har lest EN HEL pensumbok! For første gang i mitt liv. Føler meg veldig flink og samtidig veldig dum som likevel ikke har lært noe. Klar for (å bli ferdig med) siste eksamen i morgen!

[Z. N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very lucid introduction. Students out there, the problems are a MUST!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was purchased for an 8:30am class...I am a night-owl. I only went a few times but all I needed was this book to get an eighty+. Great textbook, no filler, all useful!

[Joel Shore · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an instructor, I really like this book. It is very well-written and provides a great introduction to the material. Many of the problems in this book are far-and-away more interesting than problems you will find in most other texts at this level.

I will admit that the first year that I taught Thermal Physics out of this text, a few of the student evaluations panned the textbook. However, as I told my students in the beginning of the next year, you as a student will likely feel about this textbook the same way that Winston Churchill felt about democracy as a form of government, i.e., that it's the worst textbook on thermal physics ever written...except for all the others! The subject is truly a challenging one for students...and I can't imagine another textbook giving them a better understanding.

I've also had a couple of colleagues who chose to try another textbook when they first taught Thermal Physics and one of them switched to this book the next year and the other says that he will when he teaches it a second time.

The only real substantive critique I would have is that I wish that the canonical ensemble and Boltzmann distribution were introduced earlier in the book. However, I found that it wasn't hard to give students at least a brief preview of these ideas by having them rework for homework the paramagnet problem of Section 3.3 using the Boltzmann distribution (which I just gave to them with the briefest of explanations, saying that we will learn more about where it comes from later).

[Odilf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feels weird to rate a textbook in terms of other books, but I'm giving it 5 stars because I don't see how this could be considerably better.

Maybe I'm biased because I ended up really liking the topic of statistical physics in general, but I feel that this textbook really contributed to that. Everything is explained well and rigorously, it clearly states when/what assumptions are made, but still does back of the envelope calculations (e.g., finding an almost-formula for something using dimensional analysis) in a way that really resonates to how I would think about it. Some other textbooks are more like reference catalogs, but this one is clearly aimed at helping you learn and understand the topic.

A few other things I appreciate in the book are the quick calculations and gut-checks done throughout the book (e.g., exercise 1.10: estimate the number of air molecules in an average-sized room), and the fact that Schroeder speaks in first person, in a way that feels very personal.

I think this is a good read for science-inclined people, even if you don't do physics, especially because it's something that is not commonly talked about in internet science education the way quantum and relativity is (which I now feel is a crime lol). Having done chemistry in high-school, I felt that this book helped me to "open my eyes", which I think is best characterized by the fact that I now know what temperature actually is.

[Hridoy Ranjan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was the first book I read during my graduation, probably recommended by 3Blue1Brown, and it did not disappoint me. It is one of my favorite books. This book, however, is not very deep in nature — meaning it will not give you a graduate-level understanding. But for those transitioning from undergrad to grad, it may give you some idea of how fundamental concepts differ from what we learn as undergraduates.

For example, concepts like heat, work, and entropy — which we often learn only through definitions and simple day-to-day examples — are clearly and beautifully explained in this book. It shows how these ideas naturally arise and how statistical mechanics explains the second law. The explanations and examples are truly elegant.

Difficult concepts like Boltzmann’s statistical approach to entropy are presented very nicely with everyday examples, such as marbles, making them intuitive and relatable. The book also includes a section on quantum statistics, which is just as remarkable as the rest of the text.

So, for anyone who already has a good understanding of undergraduate-level thermodynamics, I highly recommend this book. It may not make you a master of the subject, but it will certainly inspire you and give you a deeper appreciation of the ideas behind it.

[Eduardo Cezar]

Livro muito bom. A abordagem da termodinâmica a partir do mundo microscópio é magnífica, destaco aqui a excelente maneira que o autor usa para explicar conceitos como o equilíbrio térmico e a entropia, a partir da probabilidade. A visão ampla do livro prepara muito bem o estudante para estudar o tema seguinte - a mecânica estatística.

[Dead Poet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This textbook, is what textbooks should look like.

A quote:

"To get a better feel for the theoretical definition of temperature (3.5), I like to make a rather silly analogy. Imagine a world, not entirely unlike our own, in which people are constantly exchanging money in their attempts to become happier..."

[Morgan O'Keefe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be one of the very best textbooks I have had the pleasure of reading in my academic era. After reading, my view on the physical world changed dramatically. With a shrewd combination of subtle humor, concise language, and mathematical clarity, Schroeder has managed to concoct the only textbook I can honestly say I couldn't put down.

[Brian Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the assigned text for a 3850 undergraduate physics course. The material I kept up with was presented in understandable terms with helpful examples. Admittedly, I didn't keep up with most of the material.

[Nat No · Rating 4 out of 5]

Need more examples for the books and problems solving for the book. The explanation is cool but avoid dense paragraph to paragraph. Try to break down (For example, Carnot cycle paragraph can break down into 4 different sentence and new lines for better comprehension)

[Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent introduction, focusing on intuition. Good explanations, though quite slow at times and feel very repetitive. The exercises are insightful and numerous. Chapter 8 was probably my favourite, mainly for its content.

[Edgar Ma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable textbook, he gives a very intuitive understanding of all the concepts without getting bogged down in all of the mathematical formalism. The witty writing is also a plus. This alongside Griffith's Electrodynamics may be my favorite undergrad physics textbooks.