Statistical Mechanics

'This elegant new book by Benjamin Widom provides an attractive alternative for those faculty and students who want to go further … Widom has written a volume … that shows students the beauty and power of the theory as well as some of its most important contemporary applications. The sections on molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods are amonng the best concise introductions to those techniques that I have read. The prose is clear and erudite reflecting the scientific and personal style of the author … This book should be in the hands of everyone who teaches undergraduate physical chemistry to provide a model for what can be tuaght in that course beyond the material contained in the standard textbooks. Graduate students and faculty who need to learn statistical mechanics can hardly find a better introduction. Even those who regularly teach a graduate course in this area will get some new ideas and inpsiration from one of the leading practitioners of the field.' Jefferey Kovac

‘Textbooks of statistical thermodynamics for chemists are notoriously thin on the ground as the subject, being so mathematical, is not to the taste of most chemists. Professor Widom has written a survey that many chemists will find accessible, useful, and modern. … The strengths of this excellent text are its accessibility, its authority, the range of topics treated, and its pedagogical style.’ Peter Atkins, University of Oxford

‘… Ben Widom’s writing style, like his lecture style, is absolutely compelling in its freshness and apparent simplicity … an important foundational textbook and instant classic in the field of Statistical Mechanics.’ Dor Ben-Amotz, Purdue University

'The text is an excellent read. Every paragraph contains reflective insights on the physical significance of the formulae and their underlying motivation. This makes a subject that is notorious for its difficulty seem simple. … the simplicity, depth of insight and the unusual range of topics in Benjamin Widom's Statistical Mechanics should make it compulsory reading for educators and students alike when they seek to go beyond the first steps of statistical mechanics.' Trevor Rayment, The Times Higher Education Supplement