Robert T Hanlon
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Afterword to my book
The following is an excerpt from the final chapter of my book, Block by Block – The Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Thermodynamics, in which I took a step back to share a few insights and observations I unexpectedly gathered along the way. Happy the man, who, studying nature’s laws, Thro’ known effects can trace… Continue reading
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How Shannon’s entropy met Clausius’s entropy in one illustration
I took a course from Edward Tufte a long while ago on the visual display of information and loved it. He challenged us to design single illustrations to tell our story, using the classic illustration (here) of Napoleon’s march to Moscow as a great example. I took on this challenge in creating illustrations for Block… Continue reading
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Entropy = order (not dis-order)
In his Physical Chemistry book (6th Edition, p. 99), Peter Atkins wrote that entropy “is a measure of the molecular disorder of a system.” Other references contain similar statements that connect entropy with disorder. I see things differently. The appearance of structure in large systems of colliding atoms Assume a system of a trillion atoms… Continue reading
Block by Block – The Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Thermodynamics. “Hanlon has written a masterpiece.” – Mike Pauken, Senior Engineer, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and author of Thermodynamics for Dummies
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About Me
Hi! I’m Bob Hanlon. After earning my Sc.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and enjoying a long career in both industry and academia, I’ve returned to school, my own self-guided school, seeking to better understand the world of thermodynamics. Please join me on my journey.
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