Pohl's Introduction to Physics Volume 1: Mechanics, Acoustics and Thermodynamics

This classic textbook on experimental physics, written by Robert W. Pohl to accompany his famous lecture courses, served generations of physics and other science majors, not only in his native Germany, and was for many years a standard textbook. Pohl's lucid and memorable style and his consistent use of vivid demonstration experiments made his textbooks unique in their time.

This completely revised and updated modern edition retains his style and clarity in an up-to-date format. The accompanying videos document the original demonstrations and add many modern touches, bringing to life the numerous illustrations in the book and providing an instructive and motivating complement to the text. They are linked to the corresponding topics in the text and can be accessed directly online from the e-book version. 

Volume I covers elementary mechanics, acoustics (vibrations and waves) and thermodynamics.The exercises provide an aid to understanding the material as well as complementary information.

This book addresses students of physics and of other natural sciences and engineering, but also teachers and lecturers, who will profit from Pohl's many demonstration experiments, and other interested readers who want to gain an understanding of the fundamentals of physics from an experimental viewpoint.

Robert Wichard Pohl (1884 – 1976): Pohl was born in Hamburg, and studied physics in Heidelberg and Berlin, where he completed his doctorate in 1906. He obtained the Habilitation there in 1912 (this is an advanced research degree often required in Germany for an academic career). In 1916, he received the offer of a professorship in Göttingen as the successor to E. Riecke, and was full professor and director of the 1st Physics Institute there from 1920 until his retirement in 1952. He published fundamental results in the newly developing 2nd edition on also including thermodynamics; 18th edition 1983, English translation 1932), and “Optik“ in 1941 (from the 9th edition on also including atomic physics; 13th edition 1976). Since 1980, the German Physical Society has conferred an annual prize in his name, the “Robert-Wichard-Pohl Prize“ for outstanding achievements in teaching and in physics didactics.

Klaus Lüders was born in 1936 in Cologne, Germany. He studied physics in Göttingen, Munich (LMU), Aachen and Karlsruhe, where he completed his doctorate in 1965. He obtained the Habilitation in 1972 from the Freie Universität Berlin, and was professor of experimental physics at the FU Berlin from 1972. He spent research stays among others at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan and at the University of Basel, Switzerland. His areas of specialization include solid-state and low-temperature physics, superconductivity and superfluid helium.