Undergraduate level texts on Thermal and Statistical Physics

The newest books are the ones by Baierlein, Bowley and Sanchez, Carter, Moore, Phillies, and Schroeder.

  1. Vinay Ambegaokar, Reasoning About Luck: probability and its uses in physics, Cambridge University Press (1996).

  2. Daniel J. Amit and Yosef Verbin, Statistical Physics, World Scientific (1999). ISBN: 981-02-3476-7 (paper).

  3. P. W. Atkins, The Second Law, W. H. Freeman (1984).

  4. Martin Bailyn, A Survey of Thermodynamics, Bailyn's book, A Survey of Thermodynamics, AIP (1994). This 657-page work is both a reference and a textbook. The American Journal of Physics has said that it is a "marvelous resource for any teacher of thermal physics." The book is particularly notable for its thoroughness; it includes, for example, a chapter discussing thermodynamics within the context of special relativity.

  5. Ralph Baierlein, Thermal Physics, Cambridge University Press, New York (1999). Hardback: ISBN 0-521-59082-5; Paperback: ISBN 0-521-65838-1; Solutions Manual (for instructors): ISBN 0-521-65860-8. Table of contents. See review by R. Kutner in European Journal of Physics 21, 197 (2000) and by Gayle Cook in Amer. J. Phys. 67, 1285 (1999).

  6. Ralph Baierlein, Atoms and Information Theory: An Introduction to Statistical Mechanics, Freeman (1971).

  7. David S. Betts and Roy E. Turner, Introductory Statistical Mechanics, Addison-Wesley (1993).

  8. Craig F. Bohren and Bruce A. Albrecht. Atmospheric Thermodynamics, Oxford Univ Press (1998). ISBN: 0195099044.

  9. R. Bowley and M. Sanchez, Introductory Statistical Mechanics, second edition, Oxford University Press (2000). ISBN: 0-19-850576-0. See review by K. Binder in European Journal of Physics 21, 197 (2000).

  10. Anatoly I. Burshtein, Introduction to Thermodynamics and Kinetic Theory of Matter, Wiley (1996).

  11. Ashley H. Carter, Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics, Prntice Hall (2001). ISBN: 0-13-779208-5.

  12. Teunis C. Dorlas, Statistical Mechanics, IOP Publishing (1999). ISBN: 0-7503-0540-1 [QC 174.8 D 68].

  13. J. S. Dugdale, Entropy and its Physical Meaning, Taylor & Francis (1996).

  14. J. B. Fenn, Engines, Energy and Entropy, W. H. Freeman (1982).

  15. E. Fermi, Thermodynamics, Prentice-Hall (1937), reprinted by Dover. A clear, thoughtful, and thorough treatment of classical thermodynamics.

  16. C. B. P. Finn, Thermal Physics, second edition, Chapman & Hall (1993).

  17. Robert P. H. Gasser and W. Graham Richards, Statistical Thermodynamics, World Scientific (1995). (chemistry oriented)

  18. A. M. Glazer and J. S. Wark, Statistical Mechanics: A Survival Guide, Oxford University Press (2002).

  19. T. Guenault, Statistical Physics, second edition, Chapman & Hall (1995).

  20. E. Atlee Jackson, Equilibrium Statistical Thermodynamics (1968).

  21. C. Kittel and H. Kroemer, Thermal Physics, second edition, W. H. Freeman (1980).

  22. Jeffrey D. Lewins, Teaching Thermodynamics, editor, Plenum (1986) [QC 311.25 .T43].

  23. F. Mandl, Statistical Physics, second edition, John Wiley & Sons (1988).

  24. Thomas A. Moore, Six Ideas That Shaped Physics: Unit T: Some Processes Are Irreversible, WCB/McGraw-Hill Paperback (July 1999). ISBN: 007043056X.

  25. G. Morandi, E Ercolessi, and F Napoli, Statistical Mechanics: An Intermediate Course, 2nd Edition, World-Scientific (2001),

  26. George Phillies, Elementary Lectures in Statistical Mechanics, Springer-Verlag (2000).

  27. F. Reif, Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics, McGraw-Hill (1965).

  28. F. Reif, Statistical Physics, (Vol. 5 of Berkeley Physics Course), McGraw-Hill (1967).

  29. William C. Reynolds and Henry C. Perkins, Engineering Thermodynamics, second edition (1977).

  30. W. G. V. Rosser, An Introduction to Statistical Physics, John Wiley & Sons (1982).

  31. Daniel V. Schroeder, An Introduction to Thermal Physics, Addison-Wesley (2000). More information available from the author. See the review by John K. Pribram in Amer. J. Phys. 67, 1284 (1999).

  32. F. W. Sears and G. L. Salinger, Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory and Statistical Thermodynamics, Addison-Wesley (1975).

  33. M. Sprackling, Thermal Physics, AIP (1992). ISBN: 0-88318-919-4

  34. Keith S. Stowe, Introduction to Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics, John Wiley & Sons (1984).

  35. Chang L. Tien, Statistical Thermodynamics, Hemisphere Publications (1985) [QC 311.5 T54].

  36. F. Villars and G. Benedek, Physics, Vol. 2: Statistical Physics, Addison-Wesley (1973).

  37. M. Zemansky and R. Dittman, Heat and Thermodynamics, McGraw-Hill (1981).

Graduate texts

Updated 11 October 2001.