Thermodynamic Weirdness

An account of the concepts and intellectual structure of classical thermodynamics that reveals the subject's simplicity and coherence. Students of physics, chemistry, and engineering are taught classical thermodynamics through its methods—a “problems first” approach that neglects the subject's concepts and intellectual structure. In Thermodynamic Weirdness, Don Lemons fills this gap, offering a nonmathematical account of the ideas of classical thermodynamics in all its non-Newtonian “weirdness.” By emphasizing the ideas and their relationship to one another, Lemons reveals the simplicity and coherence of classical thermodynamics. Lemons presents concepts in an order that is both chronological and logical, mapping the rise and fall of ideas in such a way that the ideas that were abandoned illuminate the ideas that took their place. Selections from primary sources, including writings by Daniel Fahrenheit, Antoine Lavoisier, James Joule, and others, appear at the end of most chapters. Lemons covers the invention of temperature; heat as a form of motion or as a material fluid; Carnot's analysis of heat engines; William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) and his two definitions of absolute temperature; and energy as the mechanical equivalent of heat. He explains early versions of the first and second laws of thermodynamics; entropy and the law of entropy non-decrease; the differing views of Lord Kelvin and Rudolf Clausius on the fate of the universe; the zeroth and third laws of thermodynamics; and Einstein's assessment of classical thermodynamics as “the only physical theory of universal content which I am convinced will never be overthrown.”

An account of the concepts and intellectual structure of classical thermodynamics that reveals the subject's simplicity and coherence. Students of physics, chemistry, and engineering are taught classical thermodynamics through its methods--a "problems first" approach that neglects the subject's concepts and intellectual structure. In Thermodynamic Weirdness , Don Lemons fills this gap, offering a nonmathematical account of the ideas of classical thermodynamics in all its non-Newtonian "weirdness." By emphasizing the ideas and their relationship to one another, Lemons reveals the simplicity and coherence of classical thermodynamics. Lemons presents concepts in an order that is both chronological and logical, mapping the rise and fall of ideas in such a way that the ideas that were abandoned illuminate the ideas that took their place. Selections from primary sources, including writings by Daniel Fahrenheit, Antoine Lavoisier, James Joule, and others, appear at the end of most chapters. Lemons covers the invention of temperature; heat as a form of motion or as a material fluid; Carnot's analysis of heat engines; William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) and his two definitions of absolute temperature; and energy as the mechanical equivalent of heat. He explains early versions of the first and second laws of thermodynamics; entropy and the law of entropy non-decrease; the differing views of Lord Kelvin and Rudolf Clausius on the fate of the universe; the zeroth and third laws of thermodynamics; and Einstein's assessment of classical thermodynamics as the "only physical theory of universal content which I am convinced will never be overthrown.".

This book is a brief and accessible popular science text intended for a broad audience and of particular interest also to science students and specialists. Using a minimum of mathematics, a number of qualitative and quantitative examples, and clear illustrations, the author explains the science of thermodynamics in its full historical context, focusing on the concepts of energy and its availability and transformation in thermodynamic processes. His ultimate aim is to gain a deep understanding of the second law—the increase of entropy—and its rather disheartening message of a universe descending inexorably into chaos and disorder. It also examines the connection between the second law and why things go wrong in our daily lives. Readers will enhance their science literacy and feel more at home on the science side of author C. P. Snow's celebrated two-culture, science-humanities divide, and hopefully will feel more at home in the universe knowing that the disorder we deal with in our daily lives is not anyone's fault but Nature's.

This eighteenth volume in the Poincaré Seminar Series provides a thorough description of Information Theory and some of its most active areas, in particular, its relation to thermodynamics at the nanoscale and the Maxwell Demon, and the emergence of quantum computation and of its counterpart, quantum verification. It also includes two introductory tutorials, one on the fundamental relation between thermodynamics and information theory, and a primer on Shannon's entropy and information theory. The book offers a unique and manifold perspective on recent mathematical and physical developments in this field.

This book refutes anti-scientific, superficially mathematical arguments used to support anti-evolutionism in language accessible for both lay and professional audiences.

In a universe filled by chaos and disorder, one physicist makes the radical argument that the growth of order drives the passage of time -- and shapes the destiny of the universe. Time is among the universe's greatest mysteries. Why, when most laws of physics allow for it to flow forward and backward, does it only go forward? Physicists have long appealed to the second law of thermodynamics, held to predict the increase of disorder in the universe, to explain this. In The Janus Point, physicist Julian Barbour argues that the second law has been misapplied and that the growth of order determines how we experience time. In his view, the big bang becomes the "Janus point," a moment of minimal order from which time could flow, and order increase, in two directions. The Janus Point has remarkable implications: while most physicists predict that the universe will become mired in disorder, Barbour sees the possibility that order -- the stuff of life -- can grow without bound. A major new work of physics, The Janus Point will transform our understanding of the nature of existence.

This primer describes important equations of materials and the scientists who derived them. It provides an excellent introduction to the subject by making the material accessible and enjoyable. The book is dedicated to a number of propositions: 1. The most important equations are often simple and easily explained; 2. The most important equations are often experimental, confirmed time and again; 3. The most important equations have been derived by remarkable scientists who lived interesting lives. Each chapter covers a single equation and materials subject, and is structured in three sections: first, a description of the equation itself; second, a short biography of the scientist after whom it is named; and third, a discussion of some of the ramifications and applications of the equation. The biographical sections intertwine the personal and professional life of the scientist with contemporary political and scientific developments. Topics included are: Bravais lattices and crystals; Bragg's law and diffraction; the Gibbs phase rule and phases; Boltzmann's equation and thermodynamics; the Arrhenius equation and reactions; the Gibbs-Thomson equation and surfaces; Fick's laws and diffusion; the Scheil equation and solidification; the Avrami equation and phase transformations; Hooke's law and elasticity; the Burgers vector and plasticity; Griffith's equation and fracture; and the Fermi level and electrical properties. The book is written for students interested in the manufacture, structure, properties and engineering application of materials such as metals, polymers, ceramics, semiconductors and composites. It requires only a working knowledge of school maths, mainly algebra and simple calculus.