Page 22 - Entrophy Analysis in Thermal Engineering Systems

CHAPTER TWO

Birth and evolution of

thermodynamics

2.1 Introduction
The history of thermodynamics and the path through which it
evolved has rarely been discussed in modern texts. The need for a careful
examination of the history emerges for two main reasons. First, the second
law whose formulation led to entropy is a challenging subject for many since
the present tutorial method of entropy taught in thermodynamics classes is
not purely scientific. The author found it necessary to take a journey by
reviewing the works of the founders and pioneers of thermodynamics.
The best teachers to learn a theory or concept from are those who discovered
and developed that theory. Second, there appears to be claims and inaccurate
statements (i) underscoring the true contribution of one by unfairly giving
credits to else one, and (ii) misrepresenting a theory or concept through per-
sonal (mis)interpretation that deviates substantially from the original discov-
erer of a phenomenon or founder of that theory. The reason for such
misrepresentation could be prejudice or due to a lack of sufficient knowl-
edge of the true history of the science of thermodynamics.
The chief objective of the present chapter is to provide the reader an
overview of the evolution of the science of thermodynamics during the
19th century, which according to Tait [1], had become an established branch
of science by 1877. The author has found the historical journey of thermo-
dynamics fascinating and more importantly educational. It is believed that
once the progression of a theory is followed step by step as it occurred,
and the concepts originated thereafter are truly understood as enunciated
by the original founders, it would be less challenging to comprehend diffi-
cult concepts like entropy. Every attempt has been made to carefully exam-
ine numerous sources to ensure the accuracy of the contents presented. The
events will be discussed chronologically in three sections. It is hoped that the
present chapter will enable the reader to have a clearer picture of how the

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