Derivation of classical thermodynamics is usually difficult to understand, partly because of the way thermodynamics itself evolved. Thermodynamics was discovered in a romantic age (as opposed, for example, to the enlightenment period when Newton’s laws evolved), and the exposition consists of stories instead of mathematics. We have stories about refrigerators, furnaces, laws, forbidden processes, the universe, perpetual motion, and so forth. We are not so bold to pontificate this way today.
Read MoreSo one evening, my wife and I get an invitation to join John Henry at his home and studio for cocktails. Unbeknownst to me, that evening would take an unexpected turn with the posing of just one question, “Are you a licensed professional engineer?” asked John Henry upon meeting me for the first time. “Why yes, yes, I am”…
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