James Joule
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From steam to entropy: Creating a thermodynamics tour through Europe (and Yale)
I need your input on this. A friend of mine asked, “Bob, how about creating a European tour featuring the different locations where the founders of thermodynamics worked, including opportunities to taste the local beers?” I responded, “Great idea!” So what would that tour look like? Here’s a very rough outline based on chronological sequencing:… Continue reading
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The birth of thermo-dynamics!
In the years after 1850 a developed, established science with extensive theoretical structures and satisfactory experimental verification had to be re-established on a new basis; that of the axiom of the conservation of energy. This was the first time in history that such a thing had happened. It pre-dates the famous re-establishments that followed the… Continue reading
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Reading Clausius – no easy feat
“The establishment of thermodynamics during the middle years of the nineteenth century – one of the great creative epochs of science – was so rapid and extensive that a whole new branch of knowledge was suddenly created, where previously there had been the old science of heat plus the substantially empirical technology of heat-engines.” –… Continue reading
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James Joule – how did he do it?
Poking at small effects you can’t explain can be a way of unraveling a much bigger piece of physics – Professor Carl Carlson, theoretical physicist [1] Forging a law around the concept of energy and its conservation demanded many observations, many experiences, and many measurements. The long history involved traveled through the works of the… Continue reading
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Robert Mayer wondered, why is blood redder in warm climates?
In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind – Louis Pasteur [1] The piston played a critical role in the history of thermodynamics as this device, embedded within the steam engine, transformed heat (Q) generated by a steam boiler into the work (W) required to lift buckets of water out of deep… Continue reading
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The Road to Entropy – James Joule and the power of his curiosity (video)
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 example… 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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