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.
...all will feel rewarded in making the acquaintance through Cercignani's work, of Boltzmann's scientific ideas. Most highly recommended to anyone who claims to be interested in the history of science, and is looking forward to seeking an understanding of Boltzmann and his work in the context of his times. The book is amazingly good value for a paperback version. Current Engineering Practice, 48 05-06/S6 It is valuable, not only for the wealth and scope of information it provides, but for offering an up-to-date view, accessible to all, of the posterity of Boltzmann's scientific ideas. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
Inhaltsangabe
Foreword Preface Introduction 1. A short biography of Ludwig Boltzmann 2. Physics before Boltzmann 3. Kinetic theory before Boltzmann 4. The Boltzmann equation 5. Time irreversibility and the H-theorem 6. Boltzmann's relation and the statistical interpretation of entropy 7. Boltzmann, Gibbs and equilibrium statistical mechanics 8. The problem of polyatomic molecules 9. Boltzmann's contributions to other branches of physics 10. Boltzmann as a philosopher 11. Boltzmann and his contemporaries 12. The influence of Boltzmann's ideas on the science and technology of the twentieth century Epilogue Chronologys "A German professor's journey to Eldorado" Appendices
