Prof. James P. Sethna is Professor of Physics, Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Sethna's book provides an important service to students who want to learn modern statistical mechanics. The text teaches students how to work out problems by guiding them through the exercises rather than by presenting them with worked-out examples. Overall Statistical Mechanics is probably more appropriate as a textbook than a self-study guide. Susan Coppersmith, Physics Today, May 2007, page 65. Since the book treats intersections of mathematics, biology, engineering, computer science and social sciences, it will be of a great help to researchers in these fields in making statistical mechanics useful and comprehensible. At the same time, the book will enrich the subject for researchers-physicists who'd like to apply their skills in other disciplines. Olga K. Dudko, Journal of Statistical Physics, Vol 126 The author's style, although quite concentrated, is simple to understand, and has many lovely visual examples to accompany formal ideas and concepts, which makes the exposition live and intuitvely appealing. Olga K. Dudko, Journal of Statistical Physics, Vol 126