1 comments about Introductory Statistical Mechanics.

1. I recommend this book to anyone who is taking an undergraduate course in stat mech. I also recommend it to beginning GRADUATE students of stat mech. I used it for my own graduate coursework and I found it to be extremely helpful.

   This book provides a clean, uncluttered presentation of the principles of stat mech; does not lose sight of the physical reasons behind the mathematical manipulations; and most helpful of all, contains a good set of problems WITH SOLUTIONS! It has been more helpful to me in my graduate work than any graduate-level book!

   In a next edition, maybe the authors can include a gentle introduction to the new renormalization group theory of phase transitions, and also increase the number and depth of problems.

   If you plan on studying stat mech, get this book.

2 comments about The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecules and Crystals; An Introduction to Modern Structural Chemistry. (George Fisher Baker Non-Resident Lec).

1. "It is better to foresee, even without certainty, than not to foresee at all", writes Linus Pauling in the preface of this book, which has become a bible for chemists.When I first read this book, I thought that it was unnecessarily detailed.But then, as I patiently went through the chapters, I realised that Pauling has truly "foreseen with certainty" in his career and discoveries, which is slowly but surely revealed in this book.I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how a few simple scientific ideas lead to the explanation of literally hundreds of phenomena.In this book, the two times Nobel Prize winner has beautifully demonstrated how his classic 'Valence Bond Theory' can be applied to explain the bewildering array of atoms, molecules and crystals around us.In each chapter, the author introduces certain classic principles like resonance, electronegativity,partial ionic character of bonds, partial double bond character, and hybridization.These concepts are today the cornerstone of the description of thousands of simple molecules. It should be noted that the valence bond approach has its drawbacks, which Pauling does not discuss.It is also true that the Molecular Orbital Theory has replaced his theory in making quantitative calculations.However, Pauling's masterly style of writing and the insights which almost each and every page of this book give the reader, are unparalleled.Even though the book would perhaps not prove useful as a modern chemistry book, I think it should be read by each and every chemist and chemistry student as the ultimate example of simplicity,variety and beauty.It is one of the finest examples of how one extraordinary scientist tries to explain diverse chemical phenomena with a few simple ideas.



2. This book is one of the Masterpiece in Chemistry.
   You simply can not rate this book in stars values. It is one of the EPIC in Chemistry.
   I should say it is a bible or Bhagavad-Gita for chemists,

3 comments about Elements of Quantum Mechanics.

1. This book has an excellent treatment of quantum mechanics, especially density matrices. This book lacks both the confusion and perhaps depth of a bigger book. It is definately for chemists, and ideal for spectroscopists like Fayer. Physicists will definately find better books by physicists.

   I don't know if it's worth 72 for the amount covered.

   Fayer also made up his own notation for operators, which gets a little obnoxious.




2. This excellent graduate level textbook offers an overview of
   the basic concepts of quantum mechanics with just the right amount of material and mix of fundamental theory and practical applications.It contains a more comprehensive introduction compared with other books that focus solely on the Schroedinger picture. Operator techniques and the Dirac notation are introduced in a clear way which should be widely accessible to Chemistry Graduate students.Its time dependent viewpoint is very intuitive. It covers material, such as an introduction to
   density matrices, that is essential for reading the modern
   literature.The book further includes topics such as excitons and
   wavepackets which are not usually covered in graduate classes.
   Instructors can get an entire power point set of lectures for the course from the author which makes it a pleasure to teach from this book.
   I highly recommend this text.



3. Fayer's text is by far the best introductory quantum mechanics book out there. It is extremely meticulous and virtually makes no use of the ubiquitous "... it can be shown that...". I'll admit there are traces of chemistry here and there, and the use of CGS units when dealing with the interaction of matter with radiation is a tad gay, but other than that this book is a keeper. I actually own two copies, I keep one at home in my bathroom and the other one in the lab bathroom (from which I am writing this review). You should get yourself a Fayer or two. You won't regret it, unless you're a gay, a retard, or a pussy. Oh, by the way, real men read Fayer, only little girls read Griffiths.

3 comments about Thermal Physics, Second Edition (Physics and Its Applications).

1. All I have to say is...I came...I read...I understand! By the end of the book I could explain to my classmates how to complete problems, and I could also go up to the board in front of the class and answer problems. I had NO fear of being called on by the professor to answer questions in class. BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!



2. This is a very well written book about the basic notions one might have to be introduced to Thermodynamics.It is clear, concise, and does not avoid the subtleties of the subject.By focusing the concept of entropy of a closed system,the author gives a quite good discution over the meaning of the thermodynamic functions, a difficult topic for beginers.The first chapter of the book is also very interesting, for it has an up-to-date introduction to the field of thermometry.This book may be used as a companion to a book like Fermi's classic "Thermodynamics" and gives the reader a sound basis for further studies, using a book like Callen's for instance.



3. I enjoyed most of this book. It has helped me with getting to grips with Thermodynamics. The last few chapters did not keep me very interested. However I am now reading more advanced material on Thermodynamics, so this book has been very helpful.

No comments about Physical Chemistry Problem Solver (Problem Solvers).

2 comments about Structured Fluids: Polymers, Colloids, Surfactants.

1. For errata and further information on Structured Fluids, see the author's web site
   http://jfi.uchicago.edu/~tten/StructuredFluids/
   
   I hope you find this useful.... T. Witten, Author.



2. Structured Fluids relies more on presenting the physical picture than mathematical machinery, stresses more on intuition and scaling concepts than on derivations and obstrusive pages of equations. In doing so, it makes itself easier to grasp than say the texts by Chaikin and Lubensky or for that matter by Kleman and Lavrentovich. The formalism is done with enough depth, to benefit both beginners and experts of the field, and thus the book is better suited for graduate student course than say RAL Jones or Hamley's texts.
   
   The essential knowledge related to polymers, colloids and surfactants is in here, and the book is fairly upto date with recent advances in these areas. The references listed at the end of each chapter are most useful pointers for anyone who seeks to delve deeper into the mysteries of soft matter. In fact, reading this text reminds one of the style of de Gennes, and having been written in the same spirit by these very illustrous scientists, the book is comprehensive and erudite in content and presentation.
   
   The book starts off by talking about fundamentals, including elements of statistical physics and experimental probes used to investigate the soft matter. This sets stage for discussion of various themes related to say
   
   polymers, where random walk statistics capture essential physics required to describe a coil, scaling concepts and basic thermodynamics tells about coil dimensions in different solvents and extension of brownian dynamics explains mobility of chains. The corresponding experimental tools of light scattering and viscosity highlight how these can be measured.
   
   colloids, where the nature of interaction between colloidal particles determines their static and dynamic behavior, leading to experimentally observed self-assembly and aggregation.
   
   interfaces, where basics of surface tension come in to explain behavior of colloids and polymers near walls and interfaces.
   
   surfactants, which borrows principles from previous chapters, exhibiting rich phase behavior dictated by statistical thermodynamics, dynamics related to solvent quality and aggregation dependent on aggregation.
   
   A must read for everyone interested, active (and maybe even for experts) in the field!

No comments about Electrochemical Systems, 3rd Edition.

5 comments about Conceptual Physical Science (2nd Edition).

1. I can't seem to find the area to post recommendations for the company I bought this book form. Mindspring.com. They were very prompt in mailing this book to me. My child has started using it yet, but the promptness of the delivery was very important to me. Thanks



2. I'm a 14-year-old using this book for Freshman Physical Science. If you are homeschooling, do not buy this book.
   
   Its overly conceptual tone elimitates precision. The paragraphs are long and overly wordy, yet they neither answer the questions "Why does this happen?" nor "What is the significance of this?" The paragraphs are written colloquially with a blatant disregard for punctuation, and the author seems to think that using many italics will help children in their fruitless quest to even try to understand the writing in this book.
   
   The pictures are what has everyone raving about this book, but to me, they are confusing too. One problem I came across early was that the letters representing velocity and speed were handwritten. Be sure, if you make the immense mistake of buying this book, to explain to your child that the letter that looks like a "U" is actually a "V." In the pictures, the illustrator seems to think that adding smiley-faces to the picture will make it all easier. I, for one, found about half the pictures quite confusing. To even hazard a guess to what these pictures mean requires the hard task of reading through the cryptic paragraph.
   
   In conclusion, the writing, the pictures, and the price tag of this book make it a terrible choice for a Physical Science book.



3. Previous Post: Not my first choice. But others in the department wanted to go to this text. We're primarily trying this text next year at our university to cut text costs to students. We hope to use it in possibly four (4!) intro "concepts" courses - Physics, Physical Science, Chemsitry and Geology. I plan to cover about the first 16 chapters in physics, which is my area. (A little over 400 pages.) This should be plenty for a 15 week term in "fundamental" or "conceptual" physics for non-science majors. So far, the text seems better than Hewitt's "Conceptual Physics" text, which is just far too long and tedious for a one term intro course in physics or physical science for non-science majors. This text is also slightly cheaper and gives the student more for their money. I personally prefer the more "mature" texts written by Faughn, Beiser or Tillery.
   
   Again, the "support" materials are poor for this Hewitt text and I will be using my own lab manual and developing my own PowerPoints. The 'Practice Manual' and 'Lab Manual' are really just too hokey - left overs from the 90's "simplified" approach which many modern college students just find insulting to their intelligence. I wish Hewitt would drop the cartoons and the "Toys-R-Us" approach to science, and physics in particular.) The included PowerPoints are nothing more than images inserted into slides - you're apparently on your own with this almost useless jumble.
   
   (Adjunct instructors who have been using this text have told me they like it better than the 'Conceptual Physics' Hewitt text for teaching physical science.)
   
   Update, Fall 2007: Our physical science adjucnt still likes this text better than Hewitt's "Conceptual Physics." I'm now a little less than neutral about it, but may still try it in Fall of 2008. Our geology and meterology advisors and adjuncts have opted out of using it this Spring, and next Fall, preferring texts devoted exclusively to those subjects.



4. I think this text does an excellent job of presenting "physics without the numbers." I think physics with numbers is just as facinating but if you're not interested in the type of physics you need to become an engineer or scientist, then this text is the one for you. It does an excellent job of presenting concepts in chemistry that are not presented well in general chemistry textbooks, and the chapters on electricity, earth science, and nuclear physics are enlightening to even seasoned physics veterans. It is evident the the three authors did their best to present physics in a conversational way. Five stars.



5. The book showed up in the condition it was described as. I would buy from this seller again.

1 comments about Electrolyte Solutions: Second Revised Edition.

1. A very good introductionary book for students or engineers. Considers main classical conspects of ion transport, thermodynamics and conductivity. I've found a number of concepts in the contemporary papers and books that would be derived from the basics, described by the book. It would also be helpful for scientists/engineers who are not in the chemistry physics or chemistry. Requires basics of calculus. And yeah, much much less than $$$ XXXX pages useless "all-included" type of handbooks). The only disadvantage is that the bibliography can be extended according to the modern needs.

2 comments about Introduction to Plasma Physics (Plasma Physics Series).

1. I am a university student who major in physics. and this book was a text in plasma course. As plasma group of princeton univ. is strong, this book is strong enough to understand plasma. most favorite thing in this book is sufficient explanation about the physical and mathmatical explanation. and the not good thing is a little dirty mathmatical calculation. so if you want clear mathmatics, I think you had better look another book. Anyway if you read this from cover to cover, you can learn ABC of Plasma. isn't it wonderful?



2. This book can be very useful as a graduate level plasma text, or a reference, or as something to put on your shelf to make you look like a "serious" plasma physicist. It covers drifts extremely well and I was reasonably pleased with the two fluid model. But in the end if you are trying to learn plasma physics this book really shines as a SUPPLEMENT and I imagine would be pretty frustrating as your only source to learn from. I bought this book and Chen's book for my graduate plasma 1 course. I never opened Chen, referenced Goldston often throughout the course (and as expected put a lot of focus on the class notes). But honestly, I think you probably already know if you need this book.