Collected Works of Lars Onsager, The(v17) (Ws 20th Century Physics)

This volume contains the collected works of the eminent chemist and physicist Lars Onsager, one of the most influential scientists of the 20th Century.The volume includes Onsager's previously unpublished PhD thesis, a biography by H C Longuet-Higgins and M E Fisher, an autobiographical commentary, selected photographs, and a list of Onsager discussion remarks in print.Onsager's scientific achievements were characterized by deep insights into the natural sciences. His two best-known accomplishments are his reciprocal relations for irreversible processes, for which he received the 1968 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and his explicit solution of the two-dimensional Ising model, a mathematical tour de force that created a sensation when it appeared. In addition, he made significant theoretical contributions to other fields, including electrolytes, colloids, superconductivity, turbulence, ice, electrons in metals, and dielectrics.In this volume, Onsager's contributions are divided into the following fields: irreversible processes; the Ising model; electrolytes; colloids; helium II and vortex quantization; off-diagonal long-range order and flux quantization; electrons in metal; turbulence; ion recombination; fluctuation theory; dielectrics; ice and water; biology; Mathieu functions. The different fields are evaluated by leading experts. The commentators are P W Anderson, R Askey, A Chorin, C Domb, R J Donnelly, W Ebeling, J-C Justice, H N W Lekkerkerker, P Mazur, H P McKean, J F Nagle, T Odijk, A B Pippard, G Stell, G H Weiss, and C N Yang.

It is rare that a scientist is simultaneously powerful in mathematical analysis and in physical insight. Lars Onsager was one such person. His research ranged over mathematics, physics and chemistry. His Collected Works with Commentary is a very impressive volume edited by Hemmer, Holden and Kjelstrup Ratkje, recently published by World Scientific. It vividly exhibits the range of Onsager's contributions and brings out also Onsager's distinctive style as a person and as a professor. I highly recommend it to every theoretical chemist and every theoretical physicist. -- C N Yang, Nobel Laureate

The volume adds significantly to the chronicles of 20th century science. -- Cyril Domb, Bar-Ilan Univ., Israel