Principles of Thermodynamics (Lectures)

A training manual that walks through basic concepts, properties of pure substances, work and heat, and both the first and second laws. It closes with a full treatment of the steam cycle, so you see the theory applied to a working power system.

Various authors

A complete university course covering the zeroth through second laws, properties of pure substances, equations of state and cycle analysis. Powers adds worked homework examples and historical context that make the derivations easier to follow.

Joseph M. Powers

Starts with the four laws and builds toward thermodynamic potentials, Maxwell relations, response functions and phase transitions. Every chapter ends with problem sets, which makes it work as a self-study text and not only as a reference.

Henri J.F. Jansen

A compact set of physics lecture notes that reviews systems, equilibrium, internal energy and entropy before moving on to applications. Short enough to read in a weekend and precise enough to use before an exam.

Eric Brunet, Thierry Hocquet, Xavier Leyronas

Fowler teaches thermodynamics through its history: the first thermometers, the caloric theory, Carnot's water wheel and the discovery of energy conservation by Mayer and Joule. A good entry point if the equations came before the intuition.

Michael Fowler