Share
Atoms, Mechanics, and Probability: Ludwig Boltzmann'S Statistico-Mechanical Writings - an Exegesis
Olivier Darrigol
(Author)
·
Oxford University Press, USA
· Paperback
Atoms, Mechanics, and Probability: Ludwig Boltzmann'S Statistico-Mechanical Writings - an Exegesis - Darrigol, Olivier
Choose the list to add your product or create one New List
✓ Product added successfully to the Wishlist.
Go to My Wishlists
Origin: U.S.A.
(Import costs included in the price)
It will be shipped from our warehouse between
Friday, June 14 and
Tuesday, July 02.
You will receive it anywhere in United Kingdom between 1 and 3 business days after shipment.
Synopsis "Atoms, Mechanics, and Probability: Ludwig Boltzmann'S Statistico-Mechanical Writings - an Exegesis"
One of the pillars of modern science, statistical mechanics, owes much to one man, the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906). As a result of his unusual working and writing styles, his enormous contribution remains little read and poorly understood. The purpose of this book is tomake the Boltzmann corpus more accessible to physicists, philosophers, and historians, and so give it new life. The means are introductory biographical and historical materials, detailed and lucid summaries of every relevant publication, and a final chapter of critical synthesis. Special attention is given to Boltzmann's theoretical tool-box and to his patient construction of lofty formal systems even before their full conceptual import could be known. This constructive tendency largely accounts for his lengthy style, for the abundance of new constructions, for the relativevagueness of their object--and for the puzzlement of commentators. This book will help the reader cross the stylistic barrier and see how ingeniously Boltzmann combined atoms, mechanics, and probability to invent new bridges between the micro- and macro-worlds.
