Principles of Statistical Mechanics by Tolman

[Cruz Martinez]

I have access to this book at my uni's library. I'm considering to learn from it as my main source.
Is it severely outdated?
How good is it for learning statistical mechanics?

 

[atyy]

I've only read bits of it so I don't know the book well. However, it is probably ok since classical statistical mechanics was well established by then, and Tolman is a famous name. Maybe quantum statistical mechanics might not be covered so well, since the density matrix was only introduced around 1927.

You can check it against modern accounts like the notes by Cross http://www.pmaweb.caltech.edu/~mcc/Ph127/index.html and Kardar http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/...chanics-of-particles-fall-2013/lecture-notes/.

 

[Cruz Martinez]

Thanks, atyy, I will check out the notes too.