Conceptual Foundations of the Statistical Approach in Mechanics (Dover Books on Physics) - Softcover

Ehrenfest, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486662500 ISBN 13: 9780486662503

Publisher: Dover Publications Inc, 2015

Synopsis

Classic 1912 article reformulated the foundations of the statistical approach in mechanics. Largely still valid; essential reading for serious student. Covers older formulation of statistico-mechanical investigations (kineto-statistics of the molecule); modern formulation of kineto-statistics of gas model; work of W. Gibbs, and more. Extensive notes and prefatory material. Bibliography.

About this title

About the Author

A major figure in 20th-century science, Paul Ehrenfest (1880–1933) was an Austrian physicist and mathematician who reformulated the statistical approach in mechanics. His wife, Tatiana Ehrenfest (1876–1964), was also a mathematician who collaborated on his scientific work.

From the Back Cover

In this concise classic, Paul Ehrenfest―one of the twentieth century's greatest physicists―reformulated the foundations of the statistical approach in mechanics. Originally published in 1912, this classic has lost little of its scientific and didactic value, and is suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of physics and historians of science.
Part One describes the older formulation of statistico-mechanical investigations (kineto-statistics of the molecule). Part Two takes up the modern formulation of kineto-statistics of the gas model, and Part Three explores W. B. Gibbs's major work, Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics and its coverage of such topics as the problem of axiomatization in kineto-statistics, the introduction of canonical and microcanonical distributions, and the analogy to the observable behavior of thermodynamic systems. The book concludes with the authors' original notes, a series of useful appendixes, and a helpful bibliography.
Dover (2014) republication of the Michael J. Moravcsik translation, originally published by Cornell University Press, 1959.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Dover Publications Inc
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0486662500
• ISBN 13: 9780486662503
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 114