Enrico Fermi (1936)
Thermodynamics by Enrico Fermi, published by Dover Publications, Inc. ©1956 and manufactured in the US. This is a brand new copy purchased from an online bookseller.
Robert Oppenheimer once said of Fermi, “He was simply unable to let things be foggy.” This desire for clarity is very much in evidence in Fermi’s textbook on thermodynamics, which was based on a set of lectures given at Columbia University in 1936, two years before he received the Nobel Prize.
A typical spread of the 156-page book, which contains 211 numbered equations and is organised into 8 Chapters. Click on image for larger view.
Fermi’s elaboration of the fundamentals of thermodynamics in the first four chapters of this book is an object lesson in lucidity; it still has much to recommend it for today’s students.
Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) looking cool in lab gear
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