In this introductory textbook, thermodynamics is presented as a natural extension of mechanics, so that the laws and concepts learned in mechanics serve to get acquainted with the theory. The foundations of thermodynamics are presented in the first part.

The second part covers a wide range of applications, which are of central importance in the fields of physics, chemistry and engineering, including calorimetry, phase transitions, heat engines and chemical reactions.

In the third part, devoted to continuous media, Fourier and Fick's laws, diffusion equations and many transport effects are derived using a unified approach. Each chapter concludes with a selection of worked examples and several exercises, to reinforce key concepts under discussion. A full solutions manual is available at the end of the book. It contains more than 150 problems based on contemporary issues faced by scientists and engineers that are solved in detail for undergraduate and graduate students.

An introductory textbook presenting the key concepts and applications of thermodynamics, including numerous worked examples and exercises.

About the Author

Jean-Philippe Ansermet is a Professor of Physics at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Fellow of the American Physical Society and past President of the Swiss Physical Society. He coordinated the teaching of physics at EPFL for twelve years. His course on mechanics, taught for twenty-five years, was based on his texbook and a MOOC that has generated over a half million views. For more than fifteen years, he has taught thermodynamics to engineering and physics students. An expert in spintronics, he applies thermodynamics to analyse his pioneering experiments on giant magneto-resistance or heat-driven spin torques, and to predict novel effects.

Sylvain D. Bréchet completed his Ph.D. studies in theoretical cosmology at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge as an Isaac Newton fellow. He is University lecturer at the Institute of Physics at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He is teaching mechanics, thermodynamics and electromagnetism to first year students. His current research focuses on theoretical modelling in condensed matter physics and more particularly in spintronics. Merging the fields of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, continuum mechanics and electromagnetism, he brought new insight to spintronics and fluid mechanics. In particular, he predicted in 2013 the existence of a fundamental irreversible thermodynamic effect now known as the Magnetic Seebeck effect.