Sturge's Statistical and Thermal Physics, Second Edition

"This second edition is an updating and reworking of Sturge's original text by Olafsen (Baylor Univ.), who was the author of the first edition's solution manual, has taught using the text, and notably used Sturge's original notes as guidance for creating this revision. While Olafsen has addressed some well-known errors that appeared in the 2003 edition (CH, Mar'04, 41-4103), more significantly, he has reorganized and added to the text to enhance its utility for a broader audience. Typically, statistical physics is seen as a bridge between classical and quantum physics, which both Sturge and Olafsen believe to be an error. This difference in approach (explained in part 1) provides Olafsen's motivation for regrouping the chapters, encouraging instructors to now start with macroscopic thermodynamics or perhaps microscopic statistics. Further along, the coverage of the thermodynamics of gases (part 3) has been reorganized so that instructors can selectively cover parts of the material more easily. Importantly, new chapters have been added on biological and chemical systems and non-equilibrium thermodynamics (part 4). Olafsen has also updated the text by introducing numerical simulations. These changes modernize the text and add considerable flexibility for instructors. Olafsen has been successful in his quest to provide a text that instructors should choose over the earlier edition."
-E. Kincanon, Gonzaga University, in CHOICE, September 2020

"This second edition is an updating and reworking of Sturge's original text by Olafsen (Baylor Univ.), who was the author of the first edition's solution manual, has taught using the text, and notably used Sturge's original notes as guidance for creating this revision. While Olafsen has addressed some well-known errors that appeared in the 2003 edition (CH, Mar'04, 41-4103), more significantly, he has reorganized and added to the text to enhance its utility for a broader audience. Typically, statistical physics is seen as a bridge between classical and quantum physics, which both Sturge and Olafsen believe to be an error. This difference in approach (explained in part 1) provides Olafsen's motivation for regrouping the chapters, encouraging instructors to now start with macroscopic thermodynamics or perhaps microscopic statistics. Further along, the coverage of the thermodynamics of gases (part 3) has been reorganized so that instructors can selectively cover parts of the material more easily. Importantly, new chapters have been added on biological and chemical systems and non-equilibrium thermodynamics (part 4). Olafsen has also updated the text by introducing numerical simulations. These changes modernize the text and add considerable flexibility for instructors. Olafsen has been successful in his quest to provide a text that instructors should choose over the earlier edition."
-E. Kincanon, Gonzaga University, in CHOICE, September 2020