Physics of Phase Transitions

We learned in school that matter exists in three forms: solid, liquid and gas, as well as other more subtle things such as the fact that "evaporation produces cold. " The science of the states of matter was born in the 19th century. It has now grown enormously in two directions: 1) The transitions have multiplied: first between a solid and a solid, par­ ticularly for metallurgists. Then for magnet...