A modern introduction to physics for advanced students, this work focuses on the atomic structure of the material plus the links between macroscopic and microscopic phenomena. Above all, readers learn how to explain complex physical processes using simple models.

This first volume is devoted to mechanics and the theory of heat, and the illustrations are made particularly clear due to the consistent use of models, such as the ball and feather model for solids. By the end of the book readers will be able to calculate, for example, the specific heat capacity of an Einstein solid using a statistical approach.