Thermal Physics, Second Edition, Introduction to General Physics

Author: Qin Yunhao
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-09-01
Features: This book is the result of multiple revisions made by the author during their long tenure at Nanjing University. The 1990 edition won the First Prize of the Third National Education Commission's Outstanding Teaching Material Award, and Professor Zhao Kaihua highly praised it. The 1999 edition was a 21st Century Curriculum Textbook and a "Nineth Five-Year Plan" National Key Textbook, receiving the Second Prize of the National Outstanding Teaching Material Award in 2002. This is the second edition. The structure of this textbook is largely the same as that of "Thermodynamics" by Li Chun and others, published in 1978, and does not involve thermodynamic relations or the three statistical distributions. However, building upon the rigorous and solid tradition of physics education in China, it has seen significant development. At the same time, it incorporates the strengths of American teaching methods—flexibility, innovation, practicality, and attention to creativity—further emphasizing "liveliness, novelty, and breadth" on the foundation of "reality." It focuses on the connections between thermodynamics and modern physics, as well as new growth points in disciplines such as astronomy, geology, biology, chemistry, medicine, meteorology, and engineering, while also emphasizing the training of physical thinking methods. This textbook combines advanced features that meet the demands of cultivating talents in the new century with teaching applicability suited to the context of physics education in China. Additionally, its rich and engaging content has been praised by colleagues, experts, and students. The book is divided into six chapters: Introduction, Molecular Kinetic Theory—Equilibrium Theory, Transport Phenomena and Molecular Kinetic Theory—Non-Equilibrium Theory, The First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics, The Second Law of Thermodynamics and Entropy, and States of Matter and Phase Transitions.
This textbook can be used as a teaching material for physics majors in higher education institutions and is also suitable for reference by readers from other disciplines.