Rating: 
Summary: Thermodynamics, History, and Controversy
Review: A century ago, many physicists doubted the existence of atoms. Atoms were a lucky guess by the ancient Greeks, but ever since Lucretius, the belief in atoms has implied a mechanical and even godless universe. Atoms were seen, in the nineteenth century, as hypothetical, even imaginary, entities which might help in the bookkeeping of following chemistry experiments, but had only a theoretical rather than a physical existence. It was the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann who showed that atoms really were the teensy particles that made the formulas for heat and gases so consistent. It is a pleasure to read _Boltzmann's Atom: The Great Debate that Launched a Revolution in Physics_ (The Free Press) by David Lindley, for it brings this important physicist to light and restores credit to a flawed but important thinker.What Boltzmann did was to take kinetic theory (the concepts of how gases flow, exert pressure, and exhibit temperature) into the uncharted waters of assuming that tiny atoms were responsible for the manifestations of the theory. He insisted that atoms behaved in orderly and predictable ways that could be understood. Furthermore, he realized that although we could never measure the uncountable trillions of atoms in a liter of gas, their behavior could be understood by approximation using the laws of probability. We could not know exactly what all those atoms were doing, but probability explained it to a reliable approximation. The idea of probability demonstrating what is real was anathema to many scientists of the nineteenth century, and Lindley, in a cogent explanation of thermodynamics, tries to show both sides of the debate, which eventually, of course, Boltzmann was shown to have won. Boltzmann in frustration had committed suicide before he could appreciate the verifications given to his work by Planck and Einstein, who built their own ideas upon his. It was decades before his work got its full acceptance; his grave in Vienna was neglected, and only in 1929 did he get a deserved resting place, with his simple, epochal formula for entropy carved on its monument. This fine book shows that being right in science does not mean being accepted as right, and that radical concepts may be attacked just for being different. Lindley writes, "Sometimes scientific ideas, like strange musical compositions or surrealistic dreams, need a ready audience as well as a creator." His book is a winning explanation of important scientific, biographical, and historical details.
Rating:
Summary: Thermodynamics, History, and Controversy
Review: A century ago, many physicists doubted the existence of atoms. Atoms were a lucky guess by the ancient Greeks, but ever since Lucretius, the belief in atoms has implied a mechanical and even godless universe. Atoms were seen, in the nineteenth century, as hypothetical, even imaginary, entities which might help in the bookkeeping of following chemistry experiments, but had only a theoretical rather than a physical existence. It was the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann who showed that atoms really were the teensy particles that made the formulas for heat and gases so consistent. It is a pleasure to read _Boltzmann's Atom: The Great Debate that Launched a Revolution in Physics_ (The Free Press) by David Lindley, for it brings this important physicist to light and restores credit to a flawed but important thinker. What Boltzmann did was to take kinetic theory (the concepts of how gases flow, exert pressure, and exhibit temperature) into the uncharted waters of assuming that tiny atoms were responsible for the manifestations of the theory. He insisted that atoms behaved in orderly and predictable ways that could be understood. Furthermore, he realized that although we could never measure the uncountable trillions of atoms in a liter of gas, their behavior could be understood by approximation using the laws of probability. We could not know exactly what all those atoms were doing, but probability explained it to a reliable approximation. The idea of probability demonstrating what is real was anathema to many scientists of the nineteenth century, and Lindley, in a cogent explanation of thermodynamics, tries to show both sides of the debate, which eventually, of course, Boltzmann was shown to have won. Boltzmann in frustration had committed suicide before he could appreciate the verifications given to his work by Planck and Einstein, who built their own ideas upon his. It was decades before his work got its full acceptance; his grave in Vienna was neglected, and only in 1929 did he get a deserved resting place, with his simple, epochal formula for entropy carved on its monument. This fine book shows that being right in science does not mean being accepted as right, and that radical concepts may be attacked just for being different. Lindley writes, "Sometimes scientific ideas, like strange musical compositions or surrealistic dreams, need a ready audience as well as a creator." His book is a winning explanation of important scientific, biographical, and historical details.
Rating:
Summary: Best Boltzmann Biography
Review: Author Lindley admits that the definitive biography of Ludwig Boltzmann still hasn't been written, but that doesn't make him any less an important figure in the history and development of physics and science in general. Boltzmann is one of those rare figures that revolutionized the way scientists solve problems, choose problems -- indeed, the way they see the world. Einstein and Planck relied upon his work (and his conviction that the basic building blocks of matter were atoms) in their mathematical descriptions of Brownian motion and quantum theory (respectively). But Boltzmann stands out as an industrial-age tragic figure. Despite winning international accolades, his greatest contributions were the focus of acerbic and unrelenting derision at home. He suffered from depression and a paralyzing lack of interpersonal confidence at various times during his life until eventually, he hung himself out a window. That much we would know without this recent contribution to the story of his life. What makes this book remarkable is that it explains the cultural and social circumstances that might be described as the boundary conditions on Boltzmann's brain. Lindley explains the basic principles of all the major advances in physics in such a way that one can clearly make out the progression of thinking that evolved during the latter 19th century, the heyday of classical, Newtownian physics. He takes the mystery out of it. But he also makes it obvious that science does not operate in a cultural or political vacuum. It is not enough just to be right. This is not a fawning accout of our tragic hero. Where Boltzmann is childish or petulant, Lindley tells us so. Nor does this tale degenerate into impossible, soap opera, paperback romance novel prose. (By contrast, consider the following excerpt from Maxwell's Demon: "We can imagine him in the dim candlelight of his cramped cabin, bent over with the agony of mental labor as perspiration dripped onto the books and papers piled all around him." Now, none of us were there. What good does it do to "imagine" all that?) What Lindley has done is give us a wonderfully practical and insightful guide into the world of physics AND the world of academia at the same time. The 19th century debates (in which Boltzmann was more often than not at the center) about what constitutes legitimate science, what constitutes admissable argument or reasoning, what seperates hypothesis from theory from fact, about the nature of thermodynamics and whether it is a discipline that must rely upon the atomic "hypothesis" or be developed completely independently... these debates still shape the scholastic experience of engineers and physicists today! In some ways, then, Boltzmann's Atom is a cautionary tale for future research faculty. It may hold special meaning for graduate students or philosophers of science, but readers of all background may agree with me that it is a fascinating study in both human frailty and the physical world around us.
Rating: 
Summary: Review of Boltzmann's Atom
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: An absolute delight
Review: 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 t1tn, 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[X(tn)<=xn\ X(t1)=x1,...X(t(n-1))=x(n-1)] =P[X(tn) <=xn\ X(n-1)=x(n-1)]. A Marko Chain is said to be stationary if the value of the conditional probability P[X(t(n+1))= x(n+1)\X(tn)=xn] 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.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely delightfull
Review: 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<t2<....>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[X(tn)<=xn\ X(t1)=x1,...X(t(n-1))=x(n-1)] =P[X(tn) <=xn\ X(n-1)=x(n-1)]. A Marko Chain is said to be stationary if the value of the conditional probability P[X(t(n+1))= x(n+1)\X(tn)=xn] 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.
Rating:
Summary: An absolute delight
Review: 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<t2<....>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[X(tn)<=xn\ X(t1)=x1,...X(t(n-1))=x(n-1)] =P[X(tn) <=xn\ X(n-1)=x(n-1)]. A Marko Chain is said to be stationary if the value of the conditional probability P[X(t(n+1))= x(n+1)\X(tn)=xn] 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Much Person and a Little Science
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Much Person and a Little Science
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Still Reverberating Conflict
Review: 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.
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