rankine
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Physical chemistry – a new field in science
As a young man I tried to read thermodynamics, but I always came up against entropy as a brick wall that stopped any further progress. – James Swinburne (1904) [1] The second law of thermodynamics, which is known also as the law of the dissipation or degradation of energy, or the law of the increase… Continue reading
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The Unsung Legacy of Rudolf Clausius
We are now entering the final stages of our journey towards the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, a journey arguably started by Carnot and continued by a host of others, including Émile Clapeyron, James Joule, William Rankine, and William Thomson. In the end, though, it was Rudolf Clausius (1822-1888) who took the final steps. The power… 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
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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