Publisher: “Before we go to print, we just wanted to make sure you got permissions for the epigraphs in your book.” Me: “What’s an epigraph?” As I was traveling through the final stages of publishing my book, I learned that there are two approaches to using a quote. One is to embed the quote inContinue reading “Why I paid $100 for a Vonnegut quote”
Category Archives: Thermodynamics
Newton: On whose shoulders did he stand?
No Newton, no Principia. That much is clear. But did Newton do it alone? He was naturally exposed to the ideas of such predecessors as Descartes and Galileo and such contemporaries as Leibniz and Huygens. That this collective influenced Newton is reflected in his own writing, “If I have seen further it is by standingContinue reading “Newton: On whose shoulders did he stand?”
How did Galileo measure time?
Galileo, perhaps more than any other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern science – Steven Hawking [1] Galileo was fascinated by motion and continually experimented with pendulums, cannons, and rolling balls to understand why bodies move the way they do. The arguable culmination of these efforts occurred in 1604 when he discoveredContinue reading “How did Galileo measure time?”
Science and the power of multiple hypotheses
When asked my opinion on various science-related topics that are in the news, my usual reply is, “I don’t know.” It’s not that I’m incapable of knowing. It’s that I haven’t studied the topics in enough detail to have a well-grounded opinion. My scientific expertise lays elsewhere, in a less popular news cycle. HOWEVER IfContinue reading “Science and the power of multiple hypotheses”
Joule-Thomson Effect (Part 2) – my hypothesis
In a previous video (here), I stated my belief that a better understanding of thermodynamics is available by identifying the connections between the micro-world of moving and interacting atoms and the macro-world of classical thermodynamics. My goal is to do just this. My starting point? The Joule-Thomson effect, which is the temperature change that occursContinue reading “Joule-Thomson Effect (Part 2) – my hypothesis”
Goggins, Full Capability, and “Atoms First” Thermodynamics
David Goggins, ex-Navy SEAL, now ultra-athlete and motivational speaker, shared in a popular YouTube video (JRE #1212) something that I found incredibly motivating. His biggest fear, and I paraphrase here, is that he arrives at the gates of Heaven and sees God there with a clipboard, holding a list of many great accomplishments. Goggins’ fearContinue reading “Goggins, Full Capability, and “Atoms First” Thermodynamics”
Thermodynamic “pain point” results – here are your responses
I believe that a better understanding of thermodynamics is available by explaining the connections between the micro-world of moving and colliding atoms that attract and repel each other and the macro-world of classical thermodynamics. My goal is to identify and clarify such micro-to-macro connections. To ensure that I’m addressing true needs of the science community,Continue reading “Thermodynamic “pain point” results – here are your responses”
What are your personal “pain points” with thermodynamics?
What are your personal “pain points” with thermodynamics? What are the stumbling blocks you encounter when trying to understand the physical meaning behind such thermodynamic equations and phenomena as Gibbs Free Energy, Joule-Thomson expansion, phase change, and even the physical properties of matter, including heat capacity and absolute temperature? Could you please share these with me inContinue reading “What are your personal “pain points” with thermodynamics?”
The Road to Entropy – Boltzmann and his probabilistic entropy
Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) brought his mastery of mathematics to the kinetic theory of gases and provided us with our first mechanical understanding of entropy. To Boltzmann, his work proved that entropy ALWAYS increases or remains constant. But to others, most notably Josef Loschmidt (1821-1895), his work contained a paradox that needed to be addressed. LoschmidtContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – Boltzmann and his probabilistic entropy”
The Road to Entropy – The kinetic theory of gases & heat capacity
I believe that an improved approach to teaching thermodynamics can be created by starting with the atomic theory of matter and then explaining the connections between this theory and macroscopic thermodynamic phenomena. This micro-to-macro approach arguably began in the late 19th century when a small group of scientists, namely Rudolf Clausius, James Clerk Maxwell, andContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – The kinetic theory of gases & heat capacity”
Identifying the Micro behind the Macro 
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