Your last statement on page one implies that the previous discussion has
DERIVED the first law of thermodynamics from purely mechanical
considerations (Newton's laws)! The conservation of energy hypothesis was
a leap of faith and a hard sell.
"To me it seems as if many of those who are discussing this question of
the conservation of [energy] are plunging into the fog of
mysticism." -Written in 1858 by William Barton Rogers, founder of MIT.
Bob Sciamanda (W3NLV)
Physics, Edinboro Univ of PA (em)
trebor@velocity.net http://www.velocity.net/~trebor
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl E. Mungan" <mungan@USNA.EDU>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2002 3:42 PM
Subject: first law of thermo