Reviews for Phase Transitions in Foods

The average rating for Phase Transitions in Foods based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-11-25 00:00:00 Thomas Nolan Universality is the idea that a large number of different physical systems in the same "class" will share common behavior, eg scaling laws. This is possible when the behavior depends exclusively on certain characteristics and not on the details of the individual systems (course graining). Although this idea was not a new one, the computation of critical exponents in thermodynamic systems remained imprecise for many years because it was not well understood what the relevant characteristics were. Only with the introduction of the renormalization was this mystery fully solved. This text starts at the beginning: Ising model, mean field theories, etc. From there, it builds up through improved theories (eg Landau) and introduces important concepts like symmetry and ergodicity breaking as needed along the way. Finally we reach RG, and the student will be amazed at how (relatively) simple the correct description is! Yet, despite its simplicity, it is easy to understand why RG took so long in coming. The concept is truly brilliant. This book is wonderfully written. The notation and typesetting are a bit uninspiring, but by the time one is ready for a work of this level, one should be able to adapt to these minor difficulties. A reasonably good background in stat mech is necessary, and for RG in particular some knowledge of nonlinear dynamics is recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-05-08 00:00:00 Christopher Mendez This is a classic text on statistical physics and the theory of phase transitions. I read it cover to cover when I was learning the subject, and I continue to use it as a reference today. I'd highly recommend the book to anyone interested in the subject.