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Josiah Willard Gibbs and the Foundations of Statistical Mechanics

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In this study, I discuss the development of the ideas of Josiah Willard Gibbs' Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics and the fundamental role they played in forming the modern concepts in that field. Gibbs' book on statistical mechanics became an instant classic and has remained so for almost a century.

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REFERENCES

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  2. E. B. Wilson wrote in “Reminiscences of Gibbs by a Student and Colleague',” Sci. Monthly 32, 210–227 (1931), on p. 221: “I do not believe that Gibbs kept much in the way of notes. I imagine that he wrote the closely reasoned and highly mathematical 'Statistical Mechanics' out of his head (rather than from notes accumulated during previous years) between the time in the autumn of 1900 when he had agreed to produce the book and the time in the summer of 1901 when he delivered the manuscript. The reason for this belief lies in the fewness and in the character of the papers he left when he died––there was practically no Nachlass. And yet he was known to be working on a program of publication.” On the other hand, H. A. Bumstead, in his obituary remarked [Am. J. Sci. 16, 187–203 (1903), see in particular p. 200] “So far from publishing partial results, he seldom, if ever, spoke of what he was doing until it was practically in its final and complete form. This was his chief limitation as a teacher of advanced students; he did not take them into his confidence with regard to his current work, and even when he lectured upon a subject in advance of its publication (as was the case for a number of years before the appearance of the Statistical Mechanics) the work was really complete except for a few finishing touches.” 2a. Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 33, 57–58 (1884), Abstract.

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  1. Jagdish Mehra
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Mehra, J. Josiah Willard Gibbs and the Foundations of Statistical Mechanics. Foundations of Physics 28, 1785–1815 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018890903755

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