Ludwig Boltzmann

Author : Carlo Cercignani
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 348 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2006-01-12
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780191606984

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Ludwig Boltzmann by Carlo Cercignani Pdf

This book presents the life and personality, the scientific and philosophical work of Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the great scientists who marked the passage from 19th- to 20th-Century physics. His rich and tragic life, ending by suicide at the age of 62, is described in detail. A substantial part of the book is devoted to discussing his scientific and philosophical ideas and placing them in the context of the second half of the 19th century. The fact that Boltzmann was the man who did most to establish that there is a microscopic, atomic structure underlying macroscopic bodies is documented, as is Boltzmann's influence on modern physics, especially through the work of Planck on light quanta and of Einstein on Brownian motion. Boltzmann was the centre of a scientific upheaval, and he has been proved right on many crucial issues. He anticipated Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions and proposed a theory of knowledge based on Darwin. His basic results, when properly understood, can also be stated as mathematical theorems. Some of these have been proved: others are still at the level of likely but unproven conjectures. The main text of this biography is written almost entirely without equations. Mathematical appendices deepen knowledge of some technical aspects of the subject.

Author : J.T. Blackmore
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 286 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2013-03-09
Category : History
ISBN : 9789401704892

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Ludwig Boltzmann His Later Life and Philosophy, 1900–1906 by J.T. Blackmore Pdf

2 But already he had done important work on thermal equilibrium which helped generalize Maxwell's distribution law. Indeed, there is part of a letter by James Clerk Maxwell to Loschmidt from this period which runs: "I am very pleased over the outstanding work of your student; in England experi mental physics is much neglected. Sir William Thomson has done the most in this connection, but you [in Austria] are ahead of us with your good example. "2 But while praise was fine, Boltzmann lusted after further travel. He wanted to know what other physicists were doing first hand. In 1870 he attended lectures by Bunsen and Konigsberger in Heid elberg, and in the same year went to Berlin only to scurry back to Vienna with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, but Boltzmann was back in Berlin the next year attending lectures, visiting laboratories, and working on dielectricity more or less under the direction of Kirchhhoff and Helmholtz.

Author : Engelbert Broda
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 1983
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : UOM:39015017191902

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Ludwig Boltzmann by Engelbert Broda Pdf

Author : J.T. Blackmore
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 342 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 1995-07-31
Category : Science
ISBN : 0792334647

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Ludwig Boltzmann: His Later Life and Philosophy, 1900-1906 by J.T. Blackmore Pdf

After his failure to replace metaphysics by a linguistic approach, Ludwig Boltzmann came to identify the philosophy of science with methodology which, in turn, he considered to be part of science itself, and thus not part of philosophy at all. His definition of philosophy as metaphysics meant that, from his point of view, all philosophers were metaphysicians, himself included. Boltzmann the philosopher was advised on the improvement of his Weltanschauung by Franz Brentano; to such effect that, by the summer of 1905, Boltzmann appeared to be close to a form of critical realism. However, the stronger this realism became, the more inconsistent it seemed to be with his `Mach plus pictures' methodology of science. During this period, he planned to write a book, first on metaphysics and then later on what he called `A priori probability' and what he considered to be its shortcomings. Apparently, the book was never completed. All know Boltzmann the great physicist. Much less widely known is that he was an original philosopher: one who had a great impact on early 20th Century Viennese philosophy, beginning with Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle and extending even to Popper and Feyerabend. Blackmore's delving into Boltzmann's correspondence, coupled with his unparalleled knowledge of Boltzmann's final years, allows him to present Boltzmann in an entirely new light to readers in the English language. For physicists, philosophers and historians.

Author : Ludwig Boltzmann
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 302 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 1995-01-31
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0792332318

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Ludwig Boltzmann His Later Life and Philosophy, 1900–1906 by Ludwig Boltzmann Pdf

This book gives the first detailed record of Ludwig Boltzmann's life and philosophical thoughts during his final years, a period of major change in physics, needing a new methodology of theoretical, idealized science. The growing primacy of physical theory over observation and experimentation meant that Boltzmann needed a methodology which went beyond Ernst Mach's phenomenalism and theory of economy. The documentary approach of this book means that historians, philosophers, and physicists can use it as a source and foundation for better understanding the development of quantum and relativity theory, the new advances in methodology, and as an aid in improving or creating their own contributions to methodology and philosophy of science. Seeds of future linguistic philosophy are also present.

Author : Ludwig Boltzmann
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 282 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789401020916

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Theoretical Physics and Philosophical Problems by Ludwig Boltzmann Pdf

l. The work of Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) consists of two kinds of writings: in the first part of his active life he devoted himself entirely to problems of physics, while in the second part he tried to find a philosoph 1 ical background for his activities in and around the natural sciences. Most scientists are much more aware of his creative work in physics than of his digressions on the meaning and structure of science. I think in the present case the reason is not so much that most scientists are usually almost entirely occupied with their trade, because Boltzmann's philosophical work is also concerned with the (natural) sciences. I rather believe that the quality and consistency of Boltzmann's purely scientific work is of a more appealing nature than his less structured considerations on human activity in science and in life in general. 2. I think that it may be appropriate for the readers of this anthology to say a few words on the main findings of Boltzmann in physics, since in the end their 'philosophical' inlpact has been larger than the effect of his later writings. Moreover some knowledge of his scientific achievements can be helpful for the understanding and appreciation of the essays printed in this book, which almost all stem from Boltzmann's philosophical period. Boltzmann was one of the main protagonists - at least in continental Europe - of atomistics for explaining the phenomena of physics.

Author : Ludwig Boltzmann
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 500 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2023-11-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780520327474

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Lectures on Gas Theory by Ludwig Boltzmann Pdf

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1964.

Author : David Lindley
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : Atomic theory
ISBN : 9780684851860

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Boltzmann's Atom by David Lindley Pdf

Ludwig Boltzmann, an Austrian physicist is considered the forgotten genius who set the atomic revolution in motion. However, he was unaware his vision would lead to the greatest chain of scientific discoveries ever made. His story is presented in this combination of expert storytelling with a deep understanding of physics.

Author : Eric Johnson
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 193 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2022-11-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780262546614

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Anxiety and the Equation by Eric Johnson Pdf

A man and his equation: the anxiety-plagued nineteenth-century physicist who contributed significantly to our understanding of the second law of thermodynamics. Ludwig Boltzmann's grave in Vienna's Central Cemetery bears a cryptic epitaph: S = k log W. This equation was Boltzmann's great discovery, and it contributed significantly to our understanding of the second law of thermodynamics. In Anxiety and the Equation, Eric Johnson tells the story of a man and his equation: the anxiety-plagued nineteenth-century physicist who did his most important work as he struggled with mental illness. Johnson explains that “S” in Boltzmann's equation refers to entropy, and that entropy is the central quantity in the second law of thermodynamics. The second law is always on, running in the background of our lives, providing a way to differentiate between past and future. We know that the future will be a state of higher entropy than the past, and we have Boltzmann to thank for discovering the equation that underlies that fundamental trend. Johnson, accessibly and engagingly, reassembles Boltzmann's equation from its various components and presents episodes from Boltzmann's life—beginning at the end, with “Boltzmann Kills Himself” and “Boltzmann Is Buried (Not Once, But Twice).” Johnson explains the second law in simple terms, introduces key concepts through thought experiments, and explores Boltzmann's work. He argues that Boltzmann, diagnosed by his contemporaries as neurasthenic, suffered from an anxiety disorder. He was, says Johnson, a man of reason who suffered from irrational concerns about his work, worrying especially about opposition from the scientific establishment of the day. Johnson's clear and concise explanations will acquaint the nonspecialist reader with such seemingly esoteric concepts as microstates, macrostates, fluctuations, the distribution of energy, log functions, and equilibrium. He describes Boltzmann's relationships with other scientists, including Max Planck and Henri Poincaré, and, finally, imagines “an alternative ending,” in which Boltzmann lived on and died of natural causes.

Author : David L. Goodstein
Publisher : Courier Corporation
Page : 512 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2014-06-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780486795515

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States of Matter by David L. Goodstein Pdf

Suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of physics, this uniquely comprehensive overview provides a rigorous, integrated treatment of physical principles and techniques related to gases, liquids, solids, and their phase transitions. 1975 edition.

Author : Olivier Darrigol
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 560 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2018-02-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780192548344

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Atoms, Mechanics, and Probability by Olivier Darrigol Pdf

One of the pillars of modern science, statistical mechanics, owes much to one man, the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906). As a result of his unusual working and writing styles, his enormous contribution remains little read and poorly understood. The purpose of this book is to make the Boltzmann corpus more accessible to physicists, philosophers, and historians, and so give it new life. The means are introductory biographical and historical materials, detailed and lucid summaries of every relevant publication, and a final chapter of critical synthesis. Special attention is given to Boltzmann's theoretical tool-box and to his patient construction of lofty formal systems even before their full conceptual import could be known. This constructive tendency largely accounts for his lengthy style, for the abundance of new constructions, for the relative vagueness of their object—and for the puzzlement of commentators. This book will help the reader cross the stylistic barrier and see how ingeniously Boltzmann combined atoms, mechanics, and probability to invent new bridges between the micro- and macro-worlds.

Author : Ludwig Boltzmann,Stephen G. Brush,Gerhard Fasol
Publisher : Springer
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 1990-08-24
Category : Science
ISBN : STANFORD:36105043184626

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Fasol-Boltzmann Ludwig Boltzmann Principien der Naturfilosof by Ludwig Boltzmann,Stephen G. Brush,Gerhard Fasol Pdf

Ludwig Boltzmanns bekannte Vorlesung ueber Naturfilosofi von 1903-1906 wird hier zum ersten Mal der A-ffentlichkeit vorgestellt. Der Autor behandelt grundlegende Konzepte der Mathematik (Zahlenlehre und Geometrie), er diskutiert physikalische Begriffe wie Materie, Raum-Zeit, KrA1/4mmung des Universums, sowie den Farbenraum. Daneben findet man philosophische Betrachtungen, vor allem eine ausfA1/4hrliche Auseinandersetzung mit Schopenhauer, und Bemerkungen zu den schAnen KA1/4nsten. Der Vorlesung vorangestellt ist eine kurze, reich bebilderte Biographie, ein Essay von S.G. Brush A1/4ber Boltzmann und eine EinfA1/4hrung in die Vorlesung von G. Fasol.

Author : Ludwig Boltzmann
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 500 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2022-07-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780520368453

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Lectures on Gas Theory by Ludwig Boltzmann Pdf

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1964.

Author : Jakob Yngvason
Publisher : European Mathematical Society
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 3037190574

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Boltzmann's Legacy by Jakob Yngvason Pdf

Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (1844-1906) was an Austrian physicist famous for his founding contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics. He was one of the most important advocates for atomic theory when that scientific model was still highly controversial. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death in Duino, the International Symposium ``Boltzmann's Legacy'' was held at the Erwin Schrodinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics in June 2006. This text covers a broad spectrum of topics ranging from equilibrium statistical and nonequilibrium statistical physics, ergodic theory and chaos to basic questions of biology and historical accounts of Boltzmann's work. Besides the lectures presented at the symposium the volume also contains contributions specially written for this occasion. The articles give a broad overview of Boltzmann's legacy to the sciences from the standpoint of some of today's leading scholars in the field. The book addresses students and researchers in mathematics, physics, and the history of science.

Author : David Lindley
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2015-12-19
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781501142673

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Boltzmann's Atom by David Lindley Pdf

In 1900 many eminent scientists did not believe atoms existed, yet within just a few years the atomic century launched into history with an astonishing string of breakthroughs in physics that began with Albert Einstein and continues to this day. Before this explosive growth into the modern age took place, an all-but-forgotten genius strove for forty years to win acceptance for the atomic theory of matter and an altogether new way of doing physics. Ludwig Boltz-mann battled with philosophers, the scientific establishment, and his own potent demons. His victory led the way to the greatest scientific achievements of the twentieth century. Now acclaimed science writer David Lindley portrays the dramatic story of Boltzmann and his embrace of the atom, while providing a window on the civilized world that gave birth to our scientific era. Boltzmann emerges as an endearingly quixotic character, passionately inspired by Beethoven, who muddled through the practical matters of life in a European gilded age. Boltzmann's story reaches from fin de siècle Vienna, across Germany and Britain, to America. As the Habsburg Empire was crumbling, Germany's intellectual might was growing; Edinburgh in Scotland was one of the most intellectually fertile places on earth; and, in America, brilliant independent minds were beginning to draw on the best ideas of the bureaucratized old world. Boltzmann's nemesis in the field of theoretical physics at home in Austria was Ernst Mach, noted today in the term Mach I, the speed of sound. Mach believed physics should address only that which could be directly observed. How could we know that frisky atoms jiggling about corresponded to heat if we couldn't see them? Why should we bother with theories that only told us what would probably happen, rather than making an absolute prediction? Mach and Boltzmann both believed in the power of science, but their approaches to physics could not have been more opposed. Boltzmann sought to explain the real world, and cast aside any philosophical criteria. Mach, along with many nineteenth-century scientists, wanted to construct an empirical edifice of absolute truths that obeyed strict philosophical rules. Boltzmann did not get on well with authority in any form, and he did his best work at arm's length from it. When at the end of his career he engaged with the philosophical authorities in the Viennese academy, the results were personally disastrous and tragic. Yet Boltzmann's enduring legacy lives on in the new physics and technology of our wired world. Lindley's elegant telling of this tale combines the detailed breadth of the best history, the beauty of theoretical physics, and the psychological insight belonging to the finest of novels.