The purpose of this book is to acquaint the reader with the 
principal phenomena and most important laws of physics. The 
authors have tried to make the book as compact as possible, 
including only what is essential and omitting what is of 
secondary significance. For this reason the discussion 
nowhere aims at anything approaching completeness.

Recently while scanning through The Internet Archive I stumbled upon this gem, I did not know that such a book existed, (and I still wonder why did not Mir Publishers publish the Landau, Lifshitz course by themselves). General Physics (Mechanics and Molecular Physics) by L.D. Landau, A.I. Akhiezer and E.M. Lifshitz.

This is a general physics textbook written at first and second year undergraduate level, covering mechanics, symmetry theory, heat and thermodynamics, and solid-state physics. The subjects are covered under the following headings: Particle Mechanics; Fields; Motion of a Rigid Body; Oscillations; The Structure of Matter ; The Theory of Symmetry; Heat; Thermal Processes; Phase Transitions; Solutions; Chemical Reactions; Surface Phenomena; Mechanical Properties of Solids; Diffusion and Thermal Conduction; Viscosity.

The book emphasizes the close relation- ship of physics to physical chemistry, crystallography and the properties of matter to a greater extent than is usual in textbooks of this standard. The approach is also different, and the treatment is distinguished by the unique insight and illumination characteristic of Landau and his school, and already well known to students of physics through the volumes in Landau and Lifshitz’s Course of Theoretical Physics, published by Pergamon Press.

This book was translated from the Russian by J. B. Sykes, A. D, Petford, C. L. Petford and was published by Pergamon Press in 1967.

The book was orginally written in 1937 as written in the Preface, but was not published till 1965, this after the terrible accident from which Landau survived, but never was “Dau” again.

To get it, go to the internet archive page for this book. Almost all possible formats there: pdf, djvu, epub, kindle, torrents, and pure text. And you can read online also.

Also, don’t forget to check the awesome Folkscanomy Science: Books of a Scientific Nature collection on The Internet Archive which this book is part of, tons (literally and figuratively ) of amazing books on astronomy and physics.

Contents

Preface ix

I PARTICLE MECHANICS

§1. The principle of the relativity of motion 1
§2. Velocity 3
§3. Momentum 5
§4. Motion under reactive forces 7
§5. Centre of mass g
§6. Acceleration 10
§7. Force 12
§8. Dimensions of physical quantities 15
$9. Motion in a uniform field 19
§10. Work and potential energy 20
§11. The law of conservation of energy 23
§12. Internal energy 26
§13. Boundaries of the motion 27
§14. Elastic collisions 31
§15. Angular momentum 36
§16. Motion in a central field 40

II. FIELDS

§17. Electrical interaction 44
§18. Electric field 46
§19. Electrostatic potential 49
§20. Gauss’ theorem 5]
§21. Electric fields in simple cases 53
§22. Gravitational field 56
§23. The principle of equivalence 60
§24. Keplerian motion 62

III. MOTION Oh A RIGID BODY

§25. Types of motion of a rigid body 66
§26. The energy of a rigid body in motion 68
§27. Rotational angular momentum 72
§28. The equation of motion of a rotating body 73
§29. Resultant force 77
§30. The gyroscope 78
§31. Inertia forces 81

IV. OSCILLATIONS

§32. Simple harmonic oscillations 86
§33. The pendulum 90
§34, Damped oscillations 93
§35. Forced oscillations 96
§36. Parametric resonance 102

V. THE STRUCTURE OF MATTER

§37. Atoms 105
§38. Isotopes 109
§39. Molecules 111

VI. THE THEORY OF SYMMETRY

§40. Symmetry of molecules 115
§41. Stereoisomerism 118
§42. Crystal lattices 120
§43. Crystal systems 123
§44. Space groups 129
§45. Crystal classes 131
§46. Lattices of the chemical elements 133
§47. Lattices of compounds 137
§48. Crystal planes 139
§49. The natural boundary of a crystal 142

VII. HEAT

§50. Temperature 144
§51. Pressure 149
§52. Aggregate states of matter 151
§53. Ideal gases 153
§54. An ideal gas in an external field 157
§55. The Maxwellian distribution 160
§56. Work and quantity of heal 166
§57. The specific heat of gases 171
§58. Solids and liquids 174

VIII. THERMAL PROCESSES

§59. Adiabatic processes 178
§60. Joule- Kelvin processes 182
§61. Steady flow 184
§62. Irreversibility of thermal processes 187
§63. The Carnot cycle 190
§64. The nature of irreversibility 192
§65. Entropy 194

IX. PHASE TRANSITIONS

§66. Phases of matter 197
§67. The Clausius-Clapeyron equation 201
§68. Evaporation 203
§69. The critical point 207
§70. Van der Waals’ equation 210
§71. The law of corresponding states 214
§72. The triple point 216
§73. Crystal modifications 218
§74. Phase transitions of the second kind 222
§75. Ordering of crystals 225
§76. Liquid crystals 227

X. SOLUTIONS

§77. Solubility 230
§78. Mixtures of liquids 232
§79, Solid solutions 234
§80, Osmotic pressure 236
§81. Raoult’slaw 238
$82. Boding of a mixture of liquids 241 $83, Reverse condensation 244 $84. Solidification of a mixture of liquids 246 $85. The phase rule 250

XI. CHEMICAL REACTIONS

§86. Heats of reaction 252
$87. Chemical equilibrium 254
$88. The law of mass action 256
$89. Strong electrolytes 262
§90. Weak electrolytes 236164
§91. Activation energy 266
§92. Molecularity of reactions 270
§93. Chain reactions 272

XII. SURFACE PHENOMENA

$94. Surface tension 276
$95. Adsorption 279
$96. Angle of contact 282
$97. Capillary forces 285
§98. Vapour pressure over a curved surface 288
§99. The nature of superheating and supercooling 289
$100. Colloidal solutions 291

XIII. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS

$101. Extension 294
§102. Uniform compression 298
§103. Shear 301
$104. Plasticity 305
$105. Defects in crystals 308
$106. The nature of plasticity 312
$107. Friction of solids 316

XIV. DIFFUSION AND THERMAL CONDUCTION

$108. The diffusion coefficient 318
$109. The thermal conductivity 319
§110. Thermal resistance 321
§111. The equalisation time 326
§112. The mean free path 328
$113. Diffusion and thermal conduction in gases 330
$114, Mobility 334
$115. Thermal diffusion 336
$116. Diffusion in solids 338

XV. VISCOSITY

§119. The coefficient of viscosity 341
§120. Viscosity of gases and liquids 343
§121. Poiseuille’s formula 345
§120. The similarity method 348
§121. Siokes’ formula 350
§122. Turbulence 352
§123. Rarefied gases 357
§124. Superfluidity 361

Index 367