Ben-Naim (mathematics, The Hebrew U., Israel) goes one step beyond common interpretations of the principle of maximum entropy, replacing it with what he feels is the more suitable concept of information, or better yet, missing information (MI). He explains his rationale as he describes the history of studies of temperature and entropy and the association of entropy with disorder and MI. He describes the basic elements of probability theory, including the axiomatic approach and the relative frequency definition, then defines and explains elements of information theory, including MI and the average number of binary questions needed to acquire it. He explains the and the structure of the foundations of statistical thermodynamics. Ben-Naim also provides some simple applications such as the expansion of an ideal gas and a long series of very helpful appendices on a range of related issues.
