Reflections on Gibbs: From Statistical Physics to the Amistad V3.0

This note is based upon a talk given at an APS meeting in celebration of the achievements of J. Willard Gibbs. J. Willard Gibbs, the younger, was the first American physical sciences theorist. He was one of the inventors of statistical physics. He introduced and developed the concepts of phase space...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of statistical physics Vol. 156; no. 1; pp. 1 - 9
Main Author Kadanoff, Leo P.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston Springer US 01.07.2014
Springer
Subjects
Mathematical and Computational Physics
Physical Chemistry
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Quantum Physics
Statistical Physics and Dynamical Systems
Theoretical
Thermodynamics
Statistical physics
Philosophy of science
History of science
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ISSN0022-4715
1572-9613
DOI10.1007/s10955-014-1000-4

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Summary:This note is based upon a talk given at an APS meeting in celebration of the achievements of J. Willard Gibbs. J. Willard Gibbs, the younger, was the first American physical sciences theorist. He was one of the inventors of statistical physics. He introduced and developed the concepts of phase space, phase transitions, and thermodynamic surfaces in a remarkably correct and elegant manner. These three concepts form the basis of different areas of physics. The connection among these areas has been a subject of deep reflection from Gibbs’ time to our own. This talk therefore celebrated Gibbs by describing modern ideas about how different parts of physics fit together. I finished with a more personal note. Our own J. Willard Gibbs had all his many achievements concentrated in science. His father, also J. Willard Gibbs, also a Professor at Yale, had one great non-academic achievement that remains unmatched in our day. I describe it.
ISSN:0022-4715
1572-9613
DOI:10.1007/s10955-014-1000-4