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Clear and reader-friendly, this is an ideal textbook for students seeking an introduction to thermal physics. Written by an experienced teacher and extensively class-tested, Thermal Physics provides a comprehensive grounding in thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and kinetic theory. A key feature of this text is its readily accessible introductory chapters, which begin with a review of fundamental ideas. Entropy, conceived microscopically and statistically, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics are introduced early in the book. Throughout, topics are built on a conceptual foundation of four linked elements: entropy and the Second Law, the canonical probability distribution, the partition function, and the chemical potential. As well as providing a solid preparation in the basics of the subject, the text goes on to explain exciting recent developments such as Bose-Einstein condensation and critical phenomena. Key equations are highlighted throughout, and each chapter contains a summary of essential ideas and an extensive set of problems of varying degrees of difficulty. A free solutions manual is available for instructors (ISBN 0521 658608). Thermal Physics is suitable for both undergraduates and graduates in physics and astronomy.

Recent works devoted especially to mixtures are cited below at the end of Lecture 5.Although thermostatics falls outside the range of this book, I wish to call attention to the fine research done toward rendering that subject clear, rigorous, and sufficiently inclusive, especially the work on mixtures of fluids and on large elastic deformation by COLEMAN & NOLL and the deep studies of the phase rule by NOLL, DUNN & FOSDICK, FEINBERG, and c.-S. MAN.

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This paper offers some qualitative understanding of the chemical potential, a topic that students invariably find difficult. Three ''meanings'' for the chemical potential are stated and then supported by analytical development. Two substantial applications-depression of the melting point and batteries-illustrate the chemical potential in action. The origin of the term ''chemical potential'' has its surprises, and a sketch of the history concludes the paper.