James Joule could have observed what he did and then done nothing with it. Instead, he became driven to understand and explain it and so discovered the mechanical equivalent of heat, a forerunner of the concept of energy and the 1st law of Thermodynamics. His story is a good one, an inspiring one, an exampleContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – James Joule and the power of his curiosity (video)”
Tag Archives: James Joule
The Road to Entropy – Sadi Carnot’s use of analogy to create his “flawed” masterpiece (video)
The commercialization of the high-pressure steam engines by the Cornish Engineers of Britain inspired Sadi Carnot, a French military engineer, to analyze these engines and seek the theories to guide their improvement. If you’re interested in doing a deep dive into Sadi Carnot’s work, here are two excellent references. I go into much more depthContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – Sadi Carnot’s use of analogy to create his “flawed” masterpiece (video)”
Why Do Balloons Float?
An experimental balloon takes its inaugural flight in August 2020. This particular balloon can change altitude by shortening or lengthening a cord attached the top and bottom of the balloon. Shortening the cord compresses the balloon which makes it descend while lengthening the cord expands the balloon allowing it to ascend. Photo courtesy of ThinContinue reading “Why Do Balloons Float?”
How to conduct powerful science? Check your ego at the door.
Observe nature, take measurements, and then propose as many hypotheses as you possibly can that are consistent with the data. In this way, you shift the focus from a negative conflict between scientists, each embracing their own individual hypothesis, to a positive, exciting, and team-based conflict between ideas in which technical debate among those with differing perspectives is encouraged in order to learn and not to win.
The 170th Anniversary of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics — A Tribute to Rudolf Clausius
Upon publishing my book, Block by Block – The Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Thermodynamics, Oxford University Press kindly invited me to write a post related to my book for their academic blog. I gladly accepted and chose as my topic the creation of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics by Rudolf Clausius’ work of 1850.Continue reading “The 170th Anniversary of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics — A Tribute to Rudolf Clausius”
Identifying the Micro behind the Macro 
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