Tell me more ×
Physics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for active researchers, academics and students of physics. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 3 down vote favorite
1

I've been working on some projects lately where it would be very handy to know more about thermodynamics than I do, but sadly I never had a chance to take a proper thermodynamics course in college. Unfortunately, right now I don't have the time to work through a 500-600 page undergraduate text on the subject. Can anyone recommend a book/online resource/PDF that perhaps gives a (calculus based) broad overview of classical thermodynamics, say in something less than 200 pages? Thanks!

share|improve this question
2  
Enrico Fermi's book on thermodynamics is thin and excellent. It should be in every library and it has recently been published in Dover so it must be cheap. – drake Sep 13 '12 at 5:50
@drake that would be the sort of thing to post as an answer – David Zaslavsky♦ Sep 13 '12 at 6:40

5 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Thermodynamics by Enrico Fermi seems to be what you're looking for. I bought it for less than ten dollars. It's about a hundred and fifty pages and starts from the axioms. And it's very well written.

share|improve this answer
up vote 6 down vote

I always loved Callen's Thermodynamics. In 200-250 pages you get the whole structure of thermodynamics more clearly than anywhere else. And it is wonderfully written, a fun and easy read. When I was in college I essentially studied these pages in a long weekend. Of course back in those days I had the time to fully concentrate on a single thing.

share|improve this answer
Callen is really nice. It is the book on equilibrium thermodynamics. – Arnold Neumaier Sep 16 '12 at 15:10
up vote 4 down vote

Have a look at my paper ''Phenomenological thermodynamics'' http://www.mat.univie.ac.at/~neum/ms/phenTherm.pdf , which summarizes the core of thermodynamics in 18 pages, essentially starting from scratch. (It is also available as Chapter 7 of my online book http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/0810.1019 , and can be read independent of the remainder of the book.)

Understanding this is enough to enable you to understand the articles in Wikipedia (start at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Phases_of_matter) on states of matter, phase transitions, and other thermal phenomena.

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

"Thermal Physics" by Finn is a small and excellent book.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

I can recommend the lecture on statistical physics by Lennard Susskind. I learned a lot from them and they are available as videos online. For instance at this link or on youtube. You can even watch those in the evening after a busy day, since Lennard pretty much thinks for you (which you have to do youself when going through a book).

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.