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Ludwig Boltzmann's move in his seminal paper of 1877, introducing a statistical understanding of entropy, was a watershed moment in the history of physics. The work not only introduced quantization and provided a new understanding of entropy, it challenged the understanding of what a law of nature could be. Traditionally, nomological necessity, that is, specifying the way in which a system must develop, was considered an essential element of proposed physical laws. Yet, here was a new understanding of the Second Law of Thermodynamics that no longer possessed this property. While it was a new direction in physics, in other important scientific discourses of that time—specifically Huttonian geology and Darwinian evolution, similar approaches were taken in which a system's development followed principles, but did so in a way that both provided a direction of time and allowed for non-deterministic, though rule-based, time evolution. Boltzmann referred to both of these theories, especially the work of Darwin, frequently. The possibility that Darwin influenced Boltzmann's thought in physics can be seen as being supported by Boltzmann's later writings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ludwig Boltzmann’s move in his seminal paper of 1877, introducing a statistical understanding of entropy, was a watershed moment in the history of physics. The work not only introduced quantization and provided a new understanding of entropy, it challenged the understanding of what a law of nature could be. Traditionally, nomological necessity, that is, specifying the way in which a system must develop, was considered an essential element of proposed physical laws. Yet, here was a new understanding of the Second Law of Thermodynamics that no longer possessed this property. While it was a new direction in physics, in other important scientific discourses of that time—specifically Huttonian geology and Darwinian evolution, similar approaches were taken in which a system’s development followed principles, but did so in a way that both provided a direction of time and allowed for non-deterministic, though rule-based, time evolution. Boltzmann referred to both of these theories, especially the work of Darwin, frequently. The possibility that Darwin influenced Boltzmann’s thought in physics can be seen as being supported by Boltzmann’s later writings.

Identifications, diagnoses, and treatments of pseudo-problems form a family of classic methodologies in later nineteenth century philosophy and at least partly, I shall argue, in the philosophy of science. They were devised, not by academic philosophers, but by three of the greatest philosopher-scientists. Here I show how Ernst Mach, Heinrich Hertz and Ludwig Boltzmann each deployed methods of this general kind, how they identified different pseudo-problems, gave different diagnoses of such problems, and suggested quite different treatments for them. I argue that it was Mach who really first developed the idea of a pseudo-problem, that he did so in a relatively focussed way on the basis of two kinds of examples. Hertz's contribution was much more limited, identifying two specific pseudo-problems concerning physics, and suggesting a way in which they might be treated. Boltzmann's conception of pseudo-problems, though, was far less focussed, being applied to a very wide range of problems in philosophy and physics. However, his conception was certainly more influential, and perhaps ultimately more fruitful and suggestive. I argue for the originality and continuing interest of such approaches, and I try to dissociate them from any problematic 'positivism'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ludwig Boltzmann is one of the foremost responsible for the development of modern atomism in thermodynamics. His proposition was revolutionary not only because it brought a new vision for Thermodynamics, merging a statistical approach with Newtonian physics, but also because he produced an entirely new perspective on the way of thinking about and describing physical phenomena. Boltzmann dared to flirt with constructivism and realism simultaneously, by hypothesizing the reality of atoms and claiming an inherent probabilistic nature related to many particles systems. Boltzmann faced criticism from the positivists, who rejected the hypothesis of the atom as a matter of principle, and also from physicists, who rejected the idea of a classical bounded system that does not follow deterministic mechanical laws. We consider that Boltzmann thermodynamics has emerged as a systemic theory that deals with macroscopic bodies using collective variables; it was reformulated to a kinetic theory of gases, and subsequently to statistical mechanics. From the theoretical physical point of view, Boltzmann advocates an approach to thermodynamics based on mechanics and was one of the founders of statistical mechanics, together with ideas by Maxwell, Clausius and Gibbs. Subsequently, statistical mechanics has also influenced the development of quantum mechanics and information theory. Using an evolutionary epistemological perspective as a metaphor to describe the physical entities claimed in Boltzmann propositions, we interpret his work as a selected theory that gained attributes of reality and "survived" during a scientific-contextual competition to be more adapted, in the sense that it was able to better explain physical phenomena, and also generated "descendants". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the clarification of the concept of "typicality" discussed in contemporary philosophy of physics by conceiving the nomological status of a typical behaviour such as that expressed in the Second Law of Thermodynamics as a "minutis rectis law". A brief sketch of the discovery of "typicality" shows that there were ideas of typical behaviour not only in physics but also in sociology. On this basis and in analogy to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, it is shown that the nomological status of sociological laws such as Gresham's Law can also be conceived as "minutis rectis laws". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate and reconstruct the philosophical thoughts in Marian Smoluchowski’s papers (in his publications and in unknown manuscripts as well). He was an outstanding Polish physicist, who lived at the turn of the XIX and XX century. Smoluchowski was particularly interested in theoretical physics. His achievements in this discipline, some even very significant, have caused him to be perceived mainly as a physicist. His work in the theory of fluctuations and kinetic theory of gases, especially in the theory of Brownian motions, is well known to physicists. My attention in this paper is focused on the metascientific problems which dominated his philosophical reflections. His analysis in the fields on philosophy of science (the concept of hypothesis, theory) ought to be perceived in light of physics. Philosophical reflections were at the margins of science which he practiced – physics was always the background to his deliberations. An important limit to our deliberations was set by concentrating on issues typical of the philosophy of science. In Smoluchowski’s case, however, it is difficult to say that his branch of philosophy is characterized by systematic reflection. It is difficult to classify his reflection in the framework of any given philosophical trend.

Karl Przibram is one of the pioneers of early solid state physics in the field of the interdependence of coloration effects and luminescence in solids (crystals, minerals) induced by radiation. In 1921 Przibram discovered the effect of radio-photoluminescence, the light-stimulated phosphorescence in activated crystals induced by gamma rays. In 1926 Przibram was the first to use the term, Farbzentrum (color center, F-center), and in 1923 he advanced the view of atomic centers as carriers of coloration. Being a pupil of Ludwig Boltzmann and Franz S. Exner, he dedicated his early work to condensation and conductivity phenomena in gases and Brownian motion. Under the influence of Stefan Meyer, he began his lifelong interest in mineralogy, setting up his own research group at the Vienna Radium Institute, which pioneered investigations on thermoluminescence and gave a first description of glow curves. Being of Jewish descent, Przibram had to leave Austria after the Nazis took power; he found shelter in Belgium and returned to Austria in 1946 as professor for experimental physics at the University of Vienna. This paper is a first attempt to give an overview of the cultural and scientific background of Przibram's life and science in context of the cultural and political developments from 1900 to 1950 in Austria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Translation of the seminal 1877 paper by Ludwig Boltzmann which for the first time established the probabilistic basis of entropy. Includes a scientific commentary.

This paper contrasts developments in the pre-history of econophysics with the history of economics. The influence of classical physics on contributions of 19th century marginalists is identified and connections to the subsequent development of neoclassical economics discussed. The pre-history of econophysics is traced to a seminal contribution in the history of statistical mechanics: the classical ergodicity hypothesis introduced by L. Boltzmann. The subsequent role of the ergodicity hypothesis in empirical testing of the deterministic theories of neoclassical economics is identified. The stochastic models used in modern economics are compared with the more stochastically complex models of statistical mechanics used in econophysics. The influence of phenomenology in econophysics is identified and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opisani so dosežki jezuitov iz Avstrijske in Češke province, ki so objavljali knjige o kemiji. Posebej so izpostavljene njihove povezave z območjem današnje Slovenije. Nakazane so smernice s katerimi so omogočili uren prodor idej o strukturi snovi jezuita Ruđerja Boškovića. Nepojmljivo hitro uveljavljanje Boškovićevih pristašev v Habsburški monarhiji je primerjano s podobno hitro uveljavitvijo kinetičnih teorij atomov Slovenca Jožefa Stefana in z napol Slovenko poročenega Ludwiga Boltzmanna v istih zemljepisnih območjih.

The achievements of the Jesuits from the Austrian and Bohemian provinces, who have published books on chemistry are focused. Their links with the area of today's Slovenia are particularly exposed. The guidelines which have enabled prompt victories of the ideas about the structure of matter of Jesuit Ruđer Bošković are indicated. Inconceivable fast spread of Bošković's adherents in the Hapsburg monarchy is compared with a similar rapid introduction of the kinetic theories of atoms of Slovene Jožef Stefan and Ludwig Boltzmann in the same geographical area. Boltzmann was not only Stefan's best student, but he also married a half Slovenian maid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar a construção de uma abordagem estatística como recurso heurístico de compreensão das relações entre mecânica e termodinâmica no interior do programa de pesquisa de Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906). Neste contexto, a função de distribuição das velocidades moleculares de J.C. Maxwell (1831-79), acerca da qual Boltzmann fará diferentes leituras, desempenhará um papel central na medida em que é a partir dela que novos instrumentos heurísticos surgirão, tais como os conceitos de ''ensemble estatístico" e ''probabilidade de estado", que representam um esforço conceitual no sentido de associar aos estados do fenômeno sob análise a probabilidade da sua realização.

Translation of the seminal 1877 paper by Ludwig Boltzmann which for the first time established the probabilistic basis of entropy. Includes a scientific commentary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By his own admission Max Weber 'plundered' the doctrine of 'objective possibility' from Johannes von Kries, who originally conceived it. The application of this doctrine is sufficiently well-known from the example given by Weber of a mother boxing her child's ears (Collected Methodological Writings, 2012, pp. 177f.; Wissenschaftslehre, pp. 279f.). Less well-known is the close connection of this doctrine with the so-called theory of range (Spielraum), which requires three conditions to be present: indifference, comparability, originality (= range principle). Again, it is well-known that ideal games of chance offer optimal preconditions for the theory of range. But what is less well-known is that this is also true for the kinetic gas theory developed by Ludwig Boltzmann: in both cases the same three required conditions are specified. Just as the mother in Weber's example would have been astounded to learn that she had been making 'judgements of objective possibility' in everyday life, so Weber would have been astonished to find that he, in his selective 'plundering' of the study of the 'Concept of objective possibility' (1888) for his own purposes, had borrowed unknowingly from a theory in physics, the kinetic gas theory--something which to date has remained concealed from most Weber interpreters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a brief introduction to some of the basic concepts underlying the modern molecular simulations techniques, in particular the molecular dynamics (MD) method. This field belongs to the statistical mechanics branch of computational chemistry. Some applications in physical chemistry are illustrated through a few examples. The paper ends with epistemological considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

O objetivo deste artigo é investigar no trabalho de James C. Maxwell (1831-79) e Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) as bases da construção daquilo que modernamente, após Willard Gibbs (1839-1903), ficou conhecido como uma teoria de ensembles, uma abordagem metodológica que alimentou a busca por uma fundamentação estatística para as leis da termodinâmica.

The endeavor of Otto Sackur (1880-1914) was driven, on the one hand, by his interest in Nernst's heat theorem, statistical mechanics, and the problem of chemical equilibrium and, on the other hand, by his goal to shed light on classical mechanics from the quantum vantage point. Inspired by the interplay between classical physics and quantum theory, Sackur chanced to expound his personal take on the role of the quantum in the changing landscape of physics in the turbulent 1910s. We tell the story of this enthusiastic practitioner of the old quantum theory and early contributor to quantum statistical mechanics, whose scientific ontogenesis provides a telling clue about the phylogeny of his contemporaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A century ago, George Hartley Bryan (1864-1928) published his classic book, Stability in Aviation. I draw together some strands from events that awakened his interest in the nascent science of aviation, in particular the stability of flight. Prominent among those who influenced him was Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906), who held Bryan in high esteem for his contributions to thermodynamics and kinetic theory. I argue that the seeds of Bryan's interest in aviation were sown at the British Association meeting at Oxford in the summer of 1894, at which Boltzmann was guest of honor. A joint discussion between Section A (Mathematical and Physical Science) and Section G (Mechanical Science) was devoted to the problems of flight, during the course of which Boltzmann revealed a hitherto unsuspected enthusiasm for flying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ludwig Boltzmann’s work in theoretical physics exhibits an approach to the construction of theory that he transmitted to the succeeding generation by example. It involved the construction of clear models, allowed more than one, and was not based solely on the existing facts, with the intent of examining and criticizing the assumptions that made each model work. This tacit program influenced physicists like Ehrenfest and Einstein and the philosopher Wittgenstein, suggesting ways that they used to make further advances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tragedy and greatness of the contribution of Ludwig Boltzmann cannot be understood without taking into account for the relevant scientific developments that took place in the nineteenth century, one of the most eventful periods in the history of science. The kinetic theory opened a new theoretical perspective in understanding natural phenomena. The introduction of new categories of order and disorder changed radically the point of view of those physicists that accepted Boltzmann's thesis and led, at the same time, to strong opposition to the Viennese Scientist. In this article, we present the academic situation, scientific theories, and disputes involving the Boltzmann's theories. A short introduction on the birth of the atomistic theories opens the article, while a view on the evolution of the concept of temperature and the definition of its unit quantity closes it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two complementary debates of the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century are examined here: the debate on the legitimacy of hypotheses in the natural sciences and the debate on intentionality and ‘representations without object’ in philosophy. Both are shown to rest on two core issues: the attitude of the subject and the mode of presentation chosen to display a domain of phenomena. An orientation other than the one which contributed to shape twentieth-century philosophy of science is explored through the analysis of the role given to assumptions in Boltzmann’s research strategy, where assumptions are contrasted to hypotheses, axioms, and principles, and in Meinong’s criticism of the privileged status attributed to representations in mental activities. Boltzmann’s computational style in mathematics and Meinong’s criticism of the confusion between representation and judgment give prominence to an indirect mode of presentation, adopted in a state of suspended belief which is characteristic of assumptions and which enables one to grasp objects that cannot be reached through direct representation or even analogies. The discussion shows how assumptions and the movement to fiction can be essential steps in the quest for objectivity. The conclusion restates the issues of the two debates in a contemporary perspective and shows how recent developments in philosophy of science and philosophy of language and mind can be brought together by arguing for a twofold conception of reference. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Josef Loschmidt (1821–1895) and Josef Stefan (1835–1893) were eminent scientists in the Institute of Physics at the University of Vienna during the second half of the nineteenth century but are not well known today, as their legacies have been recognized differently by the scientific community. Loschmidt first described the structure of the benzene molecule and determined the size of air molecules, from which the number of molecules per unit volume can easily be determined, yet others received the credit for these achievements. Stefan posited the fourth-power temperature radiation law, but neither he nor his student Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906) calculated the proportionality constant now known as the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. These are instances of Stigler’s Law of Eponymy. Besides these achievements, perhaps the greatest unheralded contribution of both Loschmidt and Stefan was the experimental evidence they provided in support of the emerging kinetic theory of gases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the less known aspects of the work of Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906) is that he was an advocate of aviation, one of the most challenging technological problems at the end of the 19th century. Boltzmann followed the work of the flight pioneers Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896), Wilhelm Kress (1836–1913), and Hiram S. Maxim (1840–1916) closely, and in a lecture in Vienna in 1894 and in a article in a Viennese newspaper in 1896 he advocated the provision of financial support for research in this field. I discuss Boltzmann’s involvement in aviation, and his related correspondence with Lilienthal and Kress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Among the many tensions and oppositions in play in the early twentieth century, one—the divide between classical and modern physics—has retrospectively overshadowed our understandings of the period. This paper investigates when and why physicists first started using the term ‘classical’ to describe their discipline. Beginning with Boltzmann and ending with the 1911 Solvay Congress, on a broad scale this story constitutes a powerful instance of the circulation of a rich cultural image. First deployed in understandings of literature, music, art and schooling, the concept of the classical within the physics community came to be invested with a highly specific meaning, which in turn formed the basis for the widespread popularization of a new physical worldview after World War I. But on a finer scale, displaying the diverse, contrasting and controversial concepts of classical theory invoked by different physicists around 1900, and charting the emergence of our present understanding with the rise of relativity and quantum theory, reveals significant tussles over the meaning and value of different intellectual approaches. Here I use these tensions to investigate the interrelations between research programs and the broader, framing concepts with which physicists describe their experience of disciplinary change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906) died just over a century ago. In commemoration of his death, I sketch his pioneering contributions to thermodynamics and statistical mechanics within the context of his often troubled life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paul Ehrenfest (1880–1933) received his Ph.D. degree at the University of Vienna in 1904 and moved with his wife and young daughter to St. Petersburg in 1907, where he remained until he succeeded Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853–1928) in the chair of theoretical physics at the University of Leiden in 1912. Drawing upon Ehrenfest’s correspondence of the period, we first examine Ehrenfest’s difficult and insecure years in St. Petersburg and then discuss his unsuccessful attempts to obtain a position elsewhere before he was appointed as Lorentz’s successor in Leiden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scientific legacy of the physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1884-1906) has been one of the most extensive and complete in the modern period. It was developed in the context of profound transformations in the conceptions of the scientists about the classical theories. His scientific labour was a bridge between the Newtonism and the new Physics (quantistic and relativistic Physics). His research in statistical mechanist, Thermodynamics and Electromagnetism would be enough for considering him one of the most important physicists of the final of the XIX century and the early XX century. Additionally, his scientific work in Physics was complemented with important contributions to the Philosophy of Science, the debate concerning the scientific theories, the role of the hypothesis and the validity of the classical mechanics as an absolute method in Science. His polemics with the main supporters of the Empire criticism and Energetism, were key points in the demolition of the pseudo-scientific positions and besides, in the ending of the "Physics Crisis". Moreover, Boltzmann a long his life performed an intense pedagogical labour in some of the main Austrian universities. The last statement demonstrates the extension and depth of his intellect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]