Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics

by David Chandler

Leading physical chemist David Chandler takes a new approach to statistical mechanics to provide the only introductory-level work on the modern topics of renormalization group theory, Monte Carlo simulations, time correlation functions, and liquid structure. The author provides compact summaries of the fundamentals of this branch of physics and discussions of many of its traditional elementary applications, interspersed with over 150 exercises and microcomputer programs.

Genres: Physics, Science, Chemistry, Nonfiction, Mathematics

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 1987

Reviews

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good thing about a concise book like this is that you are forced to learn by doing. You don't get spoon-fed every step, and in a big way that is a good thing because the struggle burns the solution into your mind.

The bad thing about this book in particular is that it was not an efficient enough use of text to justify being so concise. There is just too much left ambiguous by this book. The author did not seem to put enough effort into relating to the experience of the student, so there were a lot of inconsistencies. Sometimes things were revealed that were obvious. Those parts felt especially redundant when compared to other places where entire concepts were left out that a solution of a problem relied on.

Overall, I feel very ambivalent about the book. It was good enough that it was able to accomplish what I initially described, and I did figure out the problems eventually. However, the struggle was a bit too cumbersome, so it was difficult to use my time efficiently learning this material. I actually understood it pretty well compared to my classmates; I get the impression my sentiment is a common one.

Now that I have learned the material, I will definitely hold onto this book because it is an excellent resource for someone that already understands its subject matter and simply needs concise reference material.

[Joshua Pajak · Rating 5 out of 5]

The single best stat mech book in existence - the only textbook good enough for me to include in my Goodreads.

[Sebastian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated reading it. Often times it is unclear and leaves you hanging in the air. It is indeed possible to work your way around this and answer on your own this questions. However, it is also possible to just get stuck and it is up to you to either understand (which should be his job) or to keep resting with a blank space in your head.
He even talks of heat as "heat flow" any good physicist now that heat by default is a flow and it is redundant to call it this way.

[Felix · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise introduction into statistical mechanics and an excellent reference. I think the topics still hold up well after thirty years. Perhaps nowadays a chapter on polymers/surfaces and on machine learning would be a good addition. The problem sets are an essential part, and I learned a lot working through them.

Disclaimer: I was David Chandler's graduate student, and his teaching assistant using this book.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too concise and very bad for self-studying. Mainly useful if you already know the material or learn from lectures before reading.

[Dade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good problems in this book, but I did not enjoy the rest of it very much.

[Rachele]

So it turns out that I do want to add some physics books. I end up going to the library and looking through the same books that I have already used because I don't remember what they were good for. I found this one because I have been reading some David Chandler articles on Path Transition Sampling. The review paper that he wrote (with 3 coauthors) seems to really care that the readers understand. He even wrote a tutorial! Like he wants to communicate with other scientists. So I thought the text might be good and so far (I've only partially read a couple of chapters), I'm impressed. The scope is ambitious, but I think its worth it to try to introduce the advance topics that he does even though its an introductory text. Many students don't go on to take another non-equilibrium stat mech course, and I think it's important that they are exposed to renormalization group (because its beautiful and awesome), Monte-Carlo techniques (because its basic to modern computational research) and non-equilibrium stuff (to keep it real.)

It even has a solutions manual. I think that's great. If I ever get to teach this class, I'd be totally into teaching a class with a text that has a solutions manual.

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little concise for my taste.

[Xiang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, concisely and clearly tells the most important modern statistical mechanics ideas. Excellent book!