Ludwig Boltzmann. The Man Who Trusted Atoms
Ludwig Boltzmann. The Man Who Trusted Atoms
复制标题
路德维希·玻尔兹曼。
DOI：
10.1088/0143-0807/20/2/014
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发表时间：
1998
影响因子：
0.7
通讯作者：
C. Cercignani
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
C. Cercignani
虽然玻尔兹曼属于19世纪和20世纪最有影响力的科学家之一，当物理学成为描述自然的基础科学时，还没有详细的科学传记。本书，在第一次检查，承诺填补这一空白，因为它涵盖了，除了一个'简短的传记'，以下议题开创了玻尔兹曼：碰撞方程，H-定理，统计解释熵，平衡统计力学，和理论的多原子分子。此外，还介绍了玻尔兹曼之前的物理学，特别是动力学理论，以及他的哲学，他与同时代人的关系以及他对20世纪初物理学家的影响。一个德国教授的旅程到埃尔多拉多和几个技术附录翻译完成卷。尽管这一调查的重要议题玻尔兹曼的毕生工作，我们犹豫，以呼吁这本书一个平衡的传记。不仅是少数原始来源用于提供一个更详细的画像的情况下，他的生活，或特点的各个阶段，特别是之间的联系，他的许多领域的工作，但选择也非常取决于作者的喜好。因此Cercignani非常重视处理碰撞方程及其发展到世纪，而他或多或少依赖于外国分析的其余议题-这往往是涵盖在一个相当分散的方式，如工作的麦克斯韦的电动力学（其中占主导地位的玻尔兹曼的兴趣几年）。此外，他的许多互动与同事，如亥姆霍兹和马赫，是相当不足的代表。另一方面，切尔奇尼亚尼的书构成了一个相当严重的和受欢迎的传记素描的道路上真正伟大的传记，这一巨人的科学值得。
Although Boltzmann belongs among the most influential scientists of the 19th and 20th centuries, when physics became the fundamental science describing nature, there does not yet exist a detailed scientific biography. The present book, on first inspection, promises to fill this gap since it covers, besides a 'short biography', the following topics pioneered by Boltzmann: the collision equation, the H-theorem, the statistical interpretation of entropy, equilibrium statistical mechanics, and the theory of polyatomic molecules. Moreover, there is an introduction on physics before Boltzmann, especially on kinetic theory, as well as chapters on his philosophy, his relation to contemporaries and his influence on early 20th-century physicists. A translation of A German professor's journey into Eldorado and several technical appendices complete the volume. In spite of this survey of important topics from Boltzmann's lifework, we hesitate to call this book a balanced biography. Not only are few original sources used to provide a more detailed portrait of the circumstances of his life, or to characterize the various stages of, and especially connections between, his many fields of work, but the selection also depends very much on the author's preferences. Thus Cercignani puts great emphasis on dealing with the collision equation and its development far into the 20th century, whereas he relies more or less on foreign analysis of the remaining topics - which are often covered in a fairly scattered way, such as the work on Maxwell's electrodynamics (which dominated Boltzmann's interest for several years). Also many of his interactions with colleagues, such as Helmholtz and Mach, are quite under-represented. On the other hand, Cercignani's book constitutes a quite serious and welcome biographical sketch on the way towards the really great biography, which this giant of science deserves.