Thermodynamics

by Enrico Fermi

Enrico Fermi (1901 - 1954) was an Italian-American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics. He was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity. Fermi is widely regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 20th century, highly accomplished in both theory and experiment. Along with J. Robert Oppenheimer, he is frequently referred to as "the father of the atomic bomb." His lecture notes, especially those for quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, and thermodynamics, were transcribed into books which are still in print, including THERMODYNAMICS, which remains his most important publication. With his characteristic clarity, in this classic on Thermodynamics, Fermi explains the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics, entropy, thermodynamic potentials, and much more.

Genres: Physics, Science, Textbooks, Nonfiction, Chemistry, Engineering, Reference

141 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1956

About the author

Enrico Fermi was an Italian-American Physicist, creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and the "architect of the atomic bomb". He was one of the very few physicists in history to excel both theoretically and experimentally. Fermi held several patents related to the use of nuclear power. He was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity by neutron bombardment and the discovery of transuranic elements.

He made significant contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics. attended a local grammar school, and his early aptitude for mathematics and physics was recognized and encouraged by his father's colleagues, among them A. Amidei. In 1918, he won a fellowship of the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa. He spent four years at the University of Pisa, gaining his doctor's degree in physics in 1922, with Professor Puccianti.

Soon afterwards, in 1923, he was awarded a scholarship from the Italian Government and spent some months with Professor Max Born in Göttingen. With a Rockefeller Fellowship, in 1924, he moved to Leyden to work with P. Ehrenfest, and later that same year he returned to Italy to occupy for two years (1924-1926) the post of Lecturer in Mathematical Physics and Mechanics at the University of Florence.

In 1926, Fermi discovered the statistical laws, nowadays known as the «Fermi statistics», governing the particles subject to Pauli's exclusion principle (now referred to as «fermions», in contrast with «bosons» which obey the Bose-Einstein statistics).

In 1927, Fermi was elected Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Rome (a post which he retained until 1938, when he - immediately after the receipt of the Nobel Prize - emigrated to America, primarily to escape Mussolini's fascist dictatorship).

In 1944, Fermi became an American citizen, and at the end of the war (1946) he accepted a professorship at the Institute for Nuclear Studies of the University of Chicago, a position which he held until his untimely death in 1954.

Reviews

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to get closer to the original texts surrounding Thermodynamics, which I teach every year but never felt I had sufficient reasoning to explain some student questions of 'why?'

Now I can confidently tell them 'there are proofs, but they involve lots of integrals, do you want to see them?' and of course students will say no. Overall though, this book was enlightening in that it connected to concepts I'm intimately familiar with, proved many with calculus, and then also stretched beyond my current knowledge into various cases and situations I haven't seen. I learned wild things like C(T) of a solid at room temp = 3R/molar mass, which is just cursed but statistically checks out.

Only 4 stars because no sane person today would choose to use cmHg or erg as units. Also, could have used more pictures.

[James Lyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, brief summary of the central postulates of thermodynamics, by Fermi himself.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good intro. Old mathematical notation though.

[Richard Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise and clear.
A study, or better masterclass, by Fermi in thermodynamical thinking (as one reviewer already pointed out below).
The notation/units are at times a little outdated, but that's not too much a distraction from the universal lessons taught by the book.

[Vance J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

My impulse was to rank this much lower as I can't find anything in this thin book that would remotely connect to Enrico Fermi's brilliance or personality. This seems to me yet another attempt to capitalize on someone's name without their involvement (Fermi was long dead when this was published).

Three stars only because I think this is a good - if dated - summary of key thermodynamics concepts. While there are a few problems at the end of each chapter, there are no answers or solutions. Not that the problems are especially complex, but it would be useful if there was a check.

My view: if you're looking for thoughts on thermodynamics of this era, stick with Feynman's Lectures on Physics (bonus: free if you use the online version, AND you can hear Feynman's actual lectures - they're recorded: https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.e...)

[Goodfella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goes over the first and second laws, potentials and some statistical mechanics. It contains more topics than Van Ness' "Understanding Thermodynamics", which is a similar book also published by Dover. It's a book for reviewing and understanding fundamentals and also an opportunity to read something written by the master himself.

The printed version of the book is excellent, the book is indestructible.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember thinking the math in this book was really fun to work through. The book is readable (a relative rarity in theoretical physics!), and provides a solid theoretical grounding in thermodynamics.

[Bernard English · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Amazon print on demand edition is full of typos, but still usable. The book is an introduction to thermodynamics, so Fermi leaves out lots of details, that's why its so useful. Readers focus on the essentials. Just look at many of the thermodynamics textbooks and you'll find they are overweighed (and overpriced) with stuff the average student will never look at. I picked this book up based on Professor Dermot O'Reilly's recommendation (watch him trash some sacrosanct textbooks on his Youtube channel). My only gripe is that some of the "complex" engines Fermi describes or uses in proofs are not accompanied by diagrams. Not sure if they are missing from the digitized version or what. For me it was a bit hard to mentally keep track of a chain of heat engines and all the variables involved; perhaps other readers don't.

[Anthony O'Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. Fairly average and meandering. And I don’t care who wrote it.
Might be a good book. But it’s Hard to tell.
So badly digitised it is in places impossible to read. Poorly formatted.
Weird colour changes. A picture or two apparently missing.
And almost all of the equations are hopelessly mangled.
Whoever converted it to an ebook and starting hocking it
Clearly didn’t care in the slightest about the quality of their work.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Severely limited in places by strict adherence to the classical theories of thermodynamics. Extends into quantum mechanical calculations for the last chapter, but not really much further. Other reviewers have mentioned that this wasn't directly authored by him and was instead meant as class notes - I can believe that, but still, this was a bit of a letdown.

Had some interesting proofs of equivalence between various statements of the Second law of thermodynamics.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It remains valuable as a clear and concise treatment, but, for the modern reader, it is more appropriate as a review than as an introduction. In addition to occasionally archaic terminology and notation, it is very much of the era when textbook authors were aware of the need to present the key information, but not especially aware of the need to teach it.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reasonings shown in the book are very concise and easy to understand but it doesn’t contain a guide to solve more general problems, just the ones that were considered important by the author.

It’s very useful to understand the basic concepts and even to reach a sort of profound or even complete understanding of some very important thermodynamical problems.

[Carlos Vargas · Rating 5 out of 5]

You need to have, at least, Calculus and a little bit of Differential Equations to understand this book. Nevertheless, is a good book.

[Navneet Bhushan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Classic

Indeed

[Curtis Penner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, I would read again.

[Leila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary of basic thermodynamics’ concepts. The notation is quite old but still very understandable and not too hard to follow. I will definitely be using this to improve my lectures!

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very streamlined but pristine, in the style of Fermi.
Can you learn thermodynamics from it? Sure.
Is it the best starting book for a student? I would not say so, as modern texts are excellent in their exposition - with many more pages and drawings.

[Vernin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each time I read this book I find the clarity of the exposition to be better and better. I am not sure if that is a sign of a good book or an increasing comfort level with the material. I often recommend this book to sophomores to begin looking at the "process of thinking thermodynamically" rather than for learning thermodynamics.

[DJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this over winter break in anticipation of a thermodynamics and statistical physics course in the spring. This book is very clear but I'm not 'wowed' yet.

[Hamid Farrokhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

very clearly written and well explained thermodynamics fundamentals by great physicist Enrico Fermi. good to those seeking for deep understanding rather than just applications

[Shayan Shani]

very good

[Bob Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction

[Rafael Díaz HR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great and concise summary, but also very dated.

[Laura L. Van Dam · Rating 3 out of 5]

clear but too short and not too deep into the topics covered

[Rahul]

great............