10 quotes
The summits of the curve would represent the worlds where visible motion and life exist.
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases (1895)
We assume that the whole universe is, and rests for ever, in thermal equilibrium.
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases (1895)
For a long time the celebrated theory of Boscovich was the ideal of physicists. According to his theory, bodies as well as the ether are aggregates of material points, acting together with forces, which are simple functions of their distances.
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases (1895)
Assuming the universe great enough, the probability that such a small part of it as our world should be in its present state, is no longer small.
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases (1895)
The assumption that the gas molecules are aggregates of material points, in the sense of Boscovich, does not agree with the facts. But what else are they? And what is the ether through which they move?
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases (1895)
If we assume the universe great enough, we can make the probability of one relatively small part being in any given state (however far from the state of thermal equilibrium), as great as we please.
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases (1895)
I propose to answer two questions:—
(1) Is the Theory of Gases a true physical theory as valuable as any other physical theory?
(2) What can we demand from any physical theory?
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases (1895)
The first question I answer in the affirmative, but the second belongs not so much to ordinary physics (let us call it orthophysics) as to... metaphysics.
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases (1895)
If this assumption were correct, our world would return more and more to thermal equilibrium; but because the whole universe is so great, it might be probable that at some future time some other world might deviate as far from thermal equilibrium as our world does at present.
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases (1895)
I pointed out in the second part of my paper... that my Minimum Theorem, as well as the so-called Second Law of Thermodynamics, are only theorems of probability. The Second Law can never be proved mathematically by means of the equations of dynamics alone.
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases (1895)