Antoine Lavoisier
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Truncated lives of science
Antoine Lavoisier Do you want to generate an engaging discussion amongst thermodynamics historians? Play the “what if they had lived?” game, starting with Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794). Through his meticulous work in the laboratory he discovered the conservation of mass, provided understanding of respiration as the reaction of oxygen and carbon to yield carbon dioxide and… Continue reading
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Heat Theories: A Brief Overview
To explore the challenges scientists faced in understanding heat, my illustrator Carly Sanker and I created a map (at bottom) outlining the evolution of heat theories, excerpted from my book. The material theories of phlogiston and caloric provided dead-end roads that confused many for many, many years. The mechanical theories eventually won the day in… Continue reading
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Thermodynamics: What is “heat”? (video)
The word “heat” can be very confusing to those trying to learn and understand thermodynamics. I created the below video to help clarify things. I go into more detail about this topic and many others in my book Block by Block – The Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Thermodynamics. Continue reading
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Electric Cars – Is “zero emissions” a valid claim?
I just read an article about an electric vehicle having zero CO2 emissions and thought it’d be an opportune moment to emphasize the value of thermodynamics in critically assessing such claims. Let’s walk through how this is done, starting first with a recap of the foundational mass & energy conservation laws. The conservation laws for… 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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