'This textbook presents an accessible (but still rigorous) treatment of the material at a beginning-graduate level, including many worked examples. By making the concept of entropy central to the book, Professor Shell provides an organizing principle that makes it easier for the students to achieve mastery of this important area.' Athanassios Z. Panagiotopoulos, Princeton University 'Other integrated treatments of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics exist, but this one stands out as remarkably thoughtful and clear in its selection and illumination of key concepts needed for understanding and modeling materials and processes.' Thomas Truskett, University of Texas, Austin 'This text provides a long-awaited and modern approach that integrates statistical mechanics with classical thermodynamics, rather than the traditional sequential approach, in which teaching of the molecular origins of thermodynamic laws and models only follows later, after classical thermodynamics. The author clearly shows how classical thermodynamic concepts result from the underlying behavior of the molecules themselves.' Keith E. Gubbins, North Carolina State University