Statistical Physics And Spatial Statistics

Some years ago when I. assembled a number of general articles and lectures on probability and statistics, their publication (Essays in Probability and Statistics, Methuen, London, 1962) received a some­ what better reception than I had been led to expect of such a miscellany. I am consequently tempted to risk publishing this second collection, the title I have given it (taken from the first lecture) seeming to me to indicate a coherence in my articles which my publishers might otherwise be inclined to query. As in the first collection, the articles are reprinted chronologically, usually without comment. One exception is the third, not previously published and differing from the original spoken version both slightly where indicated in the text and by the addition of an Appendix. I apologize for the inevitable limitations due to date, and also for any occasional repetition of the discussion (e.g. on Bayesian methods in statistical inference).

This book is an overview of classical thermodynamics, statistical thermodynamics, non-equilibrium and stationary state thermodynamics. This comprehensive work is the first book outside of specialized monographs to approach flow systems and irreversible thermodynamics for advanced undergraduate or introductory graduate courses in thermodynamics in chemistry, physics, biophysics, and engineering programs. Instructors for those courses will find in this book transparent models that clarify a broad range of difficult physical and mathematical concepts, including: