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Summary: Thermodynamics - the Gibbs way
Review: Thermodynamics can be a difficult subject to master because it is presented in different ways in different disciplines. For example, the terminology and symbols used by mechanical engineers are often different from those used by physical chemists, and so on. The papers by Gibbs contained in this book, represent the foundation of the thermodynamics of mixtures. These are some of the greatest scientific papers ever written. The papers contain a comprehensive treatment of equilibrium thermodynamics and include more advanced treatments, e.g. strained solids, capillarity, electrical forces, etc.After reading this book, I realised that much of what has been printed in modern texts often starts out with an approximation but the reader is not told that it is an approximation. This leads to confusion. In the Gibbs work, the reader is always aware of the approximations involved. For example, Gibbs built his themodynamics by starting with the simplest assumtpions, and then successively adding detail. Much of what is reported in modern texts is based on the initial assumption and ignores the later detail. For example, modern texts usually 'gloss-over' the study of capillarity. One would conclude from that treatment that Gibbs perhaps did no work on capillarity. However, on the contrary, Gibbs gave a very comprehensive (and remarkable) treatment of capillarity. The papers in the book are at times hard to read, because they use follow a strict mathematical logic, and because Gibbs often says " it follows that ...". In many cases, it was not obvious to me how "it followed that ...". Nevertheless, this is a must-read for anyone interested in thermodynamics, and the Gibbs treatment is usually clearer than that given in modern texts. Thoroughly recommended, and this book is now my prime reference on thermodynamics.
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Summary: Gibbs's important but obscure masterpiece
Review: This is a reprint of his original papers which cement the mathematical foundations of thermodynamics. Gibbs's work is a work of genius, but this book is an extremely challenging read. Writing in viscous 19th century prose, Gibbs is never one to use a sentence where a paragraph will do. Very few non-native English speakers who are experts in thermodynamics have the ability in English to read this from cover-to-cover. The questions one is left asking are 'Has the difficulty of this text slowed the further development of thermodynamics? Would any errors in Gibbs's work be spotted swiftly?' My answers to these questions are 'Yes,' and 'No,' respectively. Anyone who hopes to make advances in the fundamental theory or interpretation of thermodynamics (assuming, contrary to current dogma, that such advances can be made) needs to read the majority of this book. Some of my views on thermodynamics are given in: D. J. Bottomley, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Part 2, vol. 36, L1464 (1997).
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