Maxwell on Molecules and Gases (The MIT Press) - Hardcover

Maxwell, James Clerk

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262070944 ISBN 13: 9780262070942

Verlag: MIT Press, 1986

Inhaltsangabe

Book by Maxwell James Clerk

Über diesen Titel

Reseña del editor:

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) is generally considered the most important mathematical physicist in the period between Newton and Einstein. His work, like theirs, exhibits range as well as depth and extends from his grand synthesis of electrical, magnetic, and optical phenomena in the theory of electromagnetic fields to his contributions to the kinetic theory of gases and its generalization into statistical mechanics. Maxwell on Saturn's Rings (The MIT Press, 1983) focused on the early work that confirmed Maxwell's scientific promise. The present volume deals with the evolution of Maxwell's overview of atomic and statistical physics and with his work on the kinetic theory of transport phenomena in gases. It includes 92 documents and papers spanning the years 1859-1879. Among these are previously unpublished notes, drafts, and calculations and correspondence with Peter Guthrie Tait, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Herbert Spencer, George Gabbriel Stokes, Simon Newcomb, and others. The reader can trace Maxwell's insights from their inception to their fruition in the fully worked-out formal papers and shorter communications to Nature that are also included. The documents reveal the stages through which key concepts passed - such as the idea that diffusion, viscosity, and heat conduction in gases are parallel dynamical processes expressed in terms of the transfer of mass, momentum, and energy - and show Maxwell's skill in balancing abstract philosophical generalization with concrete practical detail. The editors have provided a comprehensive introduction that places the material in historical context. A forthcoming volume on thermodynamics and statistical mechanics will conclude their presentation of Maxwell's scientific development.

Biografía del autor:

Elizabeth Garber is a historian of science affiliated with the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Stephen G. Brush is a historian of science affiliated with the University of Maryland. C. W. F. Everitt is a physicist and historian of science associated with Stanford University.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: MIT Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0262070944
• ISBN 13: 9780262070942
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 592
• Herausgeber: Garber Elizabeth, Brush Stephen G., Everitt C. W. F.