The surplus entropy of the phase transition is measured for KH2PO4 and KD2PO4 crystals. The corresponding values are as follows: (0.69 ± 0.02) and (0.96 ± 0.08) for KDP and DKDP, respectively. The temperature dependence of the specific heat of DKDP shows that the phase transition in the crystal is of the first order. For the KDP crystals, the analytic form of the surplus specific heat is approximately Δcσ,E ∼ (Tc–T)−δ, δ = 0.51 ± 0.01. Theoretical estimates and experimental measurements are made of the effect of an electric field on the specific heat. Copyright © 1968 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim