
6
Structure of Thermodynamic
Theories
In this chapter we shall look into somewhat formal aspects of thermodynamics. What
we shall be looking at will be the general structure of thermodynamic theories. While
such considerations may not facilitate practical applications of the theory (even the
ideal gas case looks much more complicated than the usual treatments), they are very
important in clarifying its logical structure. We follow Callen in the elaboration of
this chapter, but unlike him, shall not stress any purely axiomatic approach.
There is a very clear parallel to be found in almost all important theories of
physics. Taking the example of classical ...