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.
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Wolfgang L. Reiter cofounded and is Vice President of the Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics. He studied physics, mathematics, and philosophy and received his Ph.D. degree in nuclear physics from the Institut für Radiumforschung und Kernphysik of the University of Vienna in 1974. Until 2002 he was Director of the Natural Sciences Unit of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science, and Culture, and Lecturer at the University of Vienna. His research interests are in the history of physics and the emigration of scientists from Austria.
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Reiter, W.L. In Memoriam Ludwig Boltzmann: A Life of Passion. Phys. perspect. 9, 357–374 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-007-0339-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-007-0339-1
Keywords:
- Henriette von Aigentler
- Svante Arrhenius
- Elsa Boltzmann
- Ida Boltzmann
- Ludwig Boltzmann
- Anton Bruckner
- Albert Einstein
- Emperor Ferdinand I
- Emperor Franz Joseph I
- Dieter Flamm
- Josiah Willard Gibbs
- Theodor Gomperz
- Heinrich Gomperz
- Hermann von Helmholtz
- Heinrich Hertz
- Gustav Kirchhoff
- Josef Loschmidt
- Ernst Mach
- Franz Mertens
- Stefan Meyer
- Walther Nernst
- Wilhelm Ostwald
- Max Planck
- Rainer Maria Rilke
- Josef Stefan
- Johann Strauss the younger
- Ernst Zermelo
- University of Vienna
- University of Graz
- University of Munich
- University of Leipzig
- University of Berlin
- Duino
- atomic hypothesis
- Boltzmann equation
- Boltzmann factor
- entropy
- thermodynamics
- statistical mechanics