[.ca] Boltzmanns Atom: The Great Debate That Launched A ... (ISBN 0684851865)

From Amazon.co.uk:
Born in Austria and something of a bumpkin by nature, the 19th-century physicist Ludwig Boltzmann did not fit in easily in the highly cultured German universities in which he taught for many years. To add to his difficulties, he stirred up controversy by proposing that scientists could make intelligent guesses about the behaviour of atoms, which, though they moved randomly, could be described by certain probabilistic generalisations. His suggestion, hinging on novel interpretations of statistical theory, was not immediately acclaimed. "To an audience of physicists raised in the belief that scientific laws ought to encapsulate absolute certainties and unerring rules", writes scientist and journalist David Lindley, "these were profound and disturbing changes". Opposed by the then influential physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach, who urged that scientists should stick to classical thermodynamics, Boltzmann was hard-pressed to convince his colleagues that the behaviour of atoms could in fact be explained by laws thought to apply only to the gaming table; Mach objected, and with some cause, that "the fact that the theory worked was not enough to prove that the assumptions on which the theory rested were true". It would take the next generation of scientists, among them Albert Einstein, to provide more solid proof for Boltzmann's hunches, and while Mach's contributions to physics have largely been superseded, Boltzmann's endure in quantum mechanics and the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution for the velocities of atoms in a gas. In this lively account, David Lindley tells the story of his many failures, and of his eventual success. --Gregory McNamee

Still Reverberating Conflict:
Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) was an Austrian theoretical physicist and made important contributions to the kinetic theory of gases and thermodynamics. His work was based on the hypothesis of the existence of atoms, and was not accepted by the majority of scientists in those days. In the undergraduate physics course, our teacher told us that Boltzmann committed suicide. I wanted to know why he ended his life so sadly, but did not have a chance to learn about it for many years. David Lindley's book gave me a clear answer to my question and much more. I was intrigued by the story about the romance between Boltzmann, a youth "whose energies and thoughts were rarely distracted from physics," and Henriette von Aigentler, a young student at a teacher training college. The author gives a readable account not only of Boltzmann's life and work but also of work and philosophy of those scientists who opposed his theory, developed a similar theory, or confirmed his hypothesis, James Clerk Maxwell, Wilhelm Ostwald, Ernst Mach, Josiah Willard Gibbs, Max Planck and Albert Einstein among them. Thus readers can get good understanding about Boltzmann's depressive mood and the significance and greatness of his work. The conflict between Boltzmann's atomic hypothesis and Mach's philosophy that science should be based only on observable facts is discussed especially in detail in this book. Lindley teaches us that a similar conflict also exists nowadays. Namely, he writes in Chapter 7, ". . . now some physicists argue for the existence of superstrings and other curious entities that will never be seen directly. It remains, even now, a profound question whether the cost of proposing such very hypothetical objects as superstrings is sufficiently compensated by the benefit in understanding that the hypothesis brings." Here he insists the merit of Mach's critical attitude. In Postscript, however, the author stresses the legacy of Boltzmann's difficult victory over Mach in the modern idea of theoretical physics. Readers are thus made think by themselves about the merit and demerit of Mach's philosophy and physical hypotheses. The book would be interesting to both laypersons and working physicists.

Absolutely delightfull:
The name "Boltzmann" is well known to students of the physical sciences. There are constants and equations that bear Boltzmann's name and Boltzmann's H-theorem relates the thermodynamic quantity, entropy, to statistics and mechanics. Boltzmann, not a particularly sympathetic figure, comes to life in this book through Lindley's effective device of comparing Boltzmann and his work with contemporary scientific personalities and thought. Lindley (Cambridge Univ.) shows how the contributions of Boltzmann placed the then-new science of thermodynamics on firm theoretical ground and also laid the foundations for the disciplines of statistical mechanics and, to a great extent, quantum mechanics. Lindley is a theoretical physicist with editorial experience on scientific journals and also the author of two other popular books on science. He brings to his subject a deep understanding of the scientific significance of Boltzmann's contributions and knowledge of the social, political, and scientific issues of Boltzmann's era. Too often the sciences are taught formally with little appreciation for the personalities and the evolution of the thought of those responsible for the results. Lindley's book corrects this for the crucial period when the atom was born and theoretical physics became a subject of its own. General readers; undergraduates through professionals.

Review of Boltzmann's Atom:
David Lindley's book entitled "Boltzmann's Atom" is a disappointment. The book "dumbs-down" what should have been a fascinating and informative subject into a broad-brushed narrative providing little physical insight into Boltzmann's contributions to statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. The problem can be summarized by two statistics: only one equation, (S= k log W) and no drawings. Apparently afraid of scaring away the "general reader" with technical ideas (that could have easily been incorporated into an appendix or two) the excitement of Boltzmann's discoveries are reduced to bland descriptions that belong in the New York Times Science section. What is surprising is that Mr. Lindley acknowledges he "leaned particularly" on Thomas Kuhn's fine book "Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity". Yet whereas Kuhn relies on the use of equations to show the evolution of the idea of discreet energy levels, there's not anything even remotely like this in "Boltzmann's Atom". In addition, three pages discussing Lucretius and additional space devoted to a windy description of the Habsburg Empire hints at an author in search of filler for his book. This book is suitable, in my opinion, if you want a quick overview of Boltzmann's life but compared to other biographies such as those by Abraham Pais it is lacking.

Much Person and a Little Science:
Lindley has produced a very affecting and compelling account of the life and ideas of one of the most important figures of 19th century physics. The scientifically minded reader will thirst for equations and more technicalia, but such a reader probably already knows all of the relevant quantitative information. The brilliant Boltzmann paved the way for the revolutions of 20th century science, and did so as a deeply wounded human being. Lindley captures these duelling sides of Boltzmann in a masterful fashion. Highlighting Boltzmann's ongoing feud with the philosophy of Ernst Mach, Lindley shows a keen awareness of the shortcomings of the positivistic philosophy espoused by the renowned Austrian philosopher while not ceding the entire battle to the philosophically naive Boltzmann. Lindley's treatment is balanced and readable. Though he capably dismisses the superficial assumptions of the Mach school, he is not quite as successful in refuting the Kantian style of idealism that co-opted so much German thought of the 19th century. This shortcoming is to be expected in a book for general readers, but another 10 pages could have better unveiled the true weaknesses in Boltzmann's common sense realism, even for the uninitiated. No one who wishes to understand the shape of 20th century physics can afford to miss Boltzmann. And Lindley provides a superb introduction to the great man for the nonspecialist.

An absolute delight:
Just over 250 pages this is a good book that I would recommend for the average American who in my opinion is "dumbed down" when it comes to the basics of math and physics. The author, begins by reminding the reader that as even in the early 1900's a respected physicist and philosopher could make the comment "I don't believe that atoms exist" before an audience of ones colleagues and not meet with derision, ridicule or disdain, but instead receive nods of approval and thoughtful reflection and a hearing. And the book is a great study in how science is a tug of war at times. And how a great man like Boltzmann sought facts or what was real and that he really did stand alone. Yet he marched to his own drummer and didnt take to authority well. Yet today atoms are not at all controversial, since scientist have not only proved they exist but that they are complex and made of sill smaller elements. But why was this Dr Boltzmann? Having seen his picture he was a handsome man. Tall dark and handsome to be exact. Wore glasses and was a quite man. He was born Feb. 20, 1844, in Vienna, Austria and died Sept. 5, 1906, in Duino, Italy. His achievement was in the development of statistical mechanics, which explains and predicts how the properties of atoms (such as mass, charge, and structure) determine the visible properties of matter (such as viscosity, thermal conductivity, and diffusion). As an avid atomist, Boltzmann's fervent belief in his work led him into many heated debates with his colleagues. While he had interests in philosophy were far reaching, even delving into the function of language; ultimately he was a theoretician and physicist. He did not consider himself a philosopher and was critical of philosophy as a science. Around 1881, Boltzmann efforts were associated with J.C. Maxwell. Maxwell worked to try to explain the thermodynamics of gases. Boltzmann introduced the Ehrenfest urn Model, an example is the probability formulation in Markov chain terms. A discreet parameter stochastic process is a collection of random variable {X(t), t=0,1,2,3,..}. The values of X(t) are called the states of process. The collection of states is call the state space. The values of t usually represent points in time. The number of statis either finite or countable infinite. A discrete parameter stochastic process is called a Markov Chain if for any set of n time points t1 tn, the conditional distribution of X(tn) given values for X(t1), X(t2),... X(tn) depends only on X(t(n-1)). It is expressed by P\oX(tn)<=xn\s X(t1)=x1,...X(t(n-1))=x(n-1)\c =P\oX(tn) <=xn\s X(n-1)=x(n-1)\c. A Marko Chain is said to be stationary if the value of the conditional probability P\oX(t(n+1))= x(n+1)\sX(tn)=xn\c is independant on. This is for stationary Markov Chains. He was the first one to recognize the importance of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory. Trivia: The Boltzmann constant has a value of 1.380662 * 10^-23 joules per kel vin. And this is what the book is basically all about. The man. The genius and how he changed the world of math and physics. In Vienna Dr Boltzmann taught not only physics but in 1903 he also committed himself to teach a university course "Methods and General Theory of the Natural Sciences." Boltzmann constant was named after Lugwig Boltzmann, because he substantially contributed to the foundation and development of statistical mechanics, a branch of theoretical physics. The author has been a theoretical physicist at Cambridge University and Fermi National Accelerator Labs and is also an editor at Nature, Science and Science New magazines.