steam engine
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Standing on the Shoulders of Mentors: Sadi Carnot’s Inspired Science
It’s tempting to romanticize the image of 28-year-old Sadi Carnot, deep in thought in his candle-lit Parisian apartment, crafting the pamphlet that would pioneer thermodynamics. However, it’s crucial not to oversimplify his achievements by assuming he developed his ideas in isolation. Understanding the context is vital to appreciating the full significance of Carnot’s work. Standing… Continue reading
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Richard Trevithick: pressurized steam required courage of conviction
In his early years, James Watt had considered ways to use pressurized (“strong”) steam, as opposed to vacuum-inducing, condensing steam, to develop power. But the mechanical difficulties of constructing a boiler to withstand the pressures could not be overcome. This obstacle tainted Watt’s thinking, resulting in his outright rejection of any steam-engine involving steam-pressures greater… Continue reading
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James Watt’s “eureka!” moment
“In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.” – Louis Pasteur (1854) Experiencing a “eureka!” moment of insight into nature is absolutely thrilling. I’ve been very fortunate to have had several such moments and enjoy others’ stories too, including those of Henrietta Leavitt, Robert Mayer, Rudolf Clausius, and Thomas Newcomen, which I… Continue reading
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The Newcomen Engine
[The Newcomen engine] belongs to that small but select group of inventions that have decisively change the course of history.” – D. S. L. Cardwell [1] The path to Sadi Carnot led through Denis Papin’s pioneering work with the piston (click here) and into Thomas Newcomen’s (1664-1729) invention of the first commercial steam engine in… Continue reading
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From Ancient Forests to Industrial Power: Unearthing Britain’s Coal Legacy
The financial incentive to develop the steam engine in Britain was to remove water from coal mines so that miners could dig deeper. I discussed this in a previous post (click here), but what I didn’t discuss was why there was so much coal there to begin with. Where did all that coal come from?… Continue reading
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Thermo (Q) and dynamics (W) meet for the first time inside the piston
Thermodynamics arguably began with the piston, since it was the invention of the piston that first enabled the transformation of heat into work. In 1850 Rudolf Clausius quantified this transformation in his 1st Law of Thermo (heat)-Dynamics (work) when he conducted an energy balance around the piston: ∆U = Q - W The change in internal energy (U) of… 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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