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Re: T#1



Thank you, Leigh. This is very helpful. Maybe I could ask the question
differently: Who first used the term "The First Law"? -- indeed who first
used the term "The Second Law"? Clausius and Kelvin were the first ones to
formulate a law, but neither called it "The Second Law" -- in fact didn't
the concept of T#1 come primarily *after* the comments of C & K???

I think I need a good thermo history book. Any recommendations???
I have Magie's book, but he is quite clinical. I need a good coherent story.

Jim.Green@Snow.edu


At 04:17 PM 9/25/96 -0700, you wrote:
Who do you suppose is credited with first enunciating the First Law?

By whom? Hermann von Helmholtz would be the answer on a Trivial
Pursuit card or on Jeopardy, but it is clear that the first law
has evolved since his time, and that later formulations of the
law are more correct (or more complete) than Helmholtz's. After
all, the first law was a pretty feeble approximation before the
discovery by Einstein of the principal energy term in the law.
Up to that time the first law was far from being universal
since it didn't include the most prodigious energy transforming
processes in the universe.

Leigh