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Josiah Willard Gibbs Tributes …who founded a new department of chemical science which is becoming comparable in importance with that created by Lavoisier. – Henri Louis Le Chatelier, 1885 formulated Le Chatelier's principle …whose name not only in America but in the whole world will ever be reckoned among the most renowned theoretical physicists of all times… – Max Planck, 1918 Nobel prize physics Josiah Willard Gibbs (February 11, 1839 – April 28, 1903) was an American mathematical physicist who contributed much of the theoretical foundation that led to the development of chemical thermodynamics and was one of the founders of vector analysis. From 1871 until his death, he held the chair of mathematical physics at Yale. Between 1876 and 1878 Gibbs wrote a series of papers collectively entitled "On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances", considered one of the greatest achievements in physical science in the 19th century and the foundation of the science of physical chemistry. In these papers Gibbs applied thermodynamics to the interpretation of physicochemical phenomena and showed the explanation and interrelationship of what had been known only as isolated, inexplicable facts. [1] "It is universally recognised that its publication was an event of the first importance in the history of chemistry. ... Nevertheless it was a number of years before its value was generally known, this delay was due largely to the fact that its mathematical form and rigorous deductive processes make it difficult reading for any one, and especially so for students of experimental chemistry whom it most concerns... " [2] Gibbs' scientific career can be divided into four phases. Up until 1879, he worked on the theory of thermodynamics. From 1880 to 1884, he worked on the field of vector analysis. From 1882 to 1889, he worked on optics and the electromagnetic theory of light. After 1889, he worked on statistical mechanics, laying it on firm foundation and "providing a mathematical framework for quantum theory and for Maxwell's theories" [3]; he also produced classic textbooks on the matter. Biography Early years
Gibbs in his youth. Gibbs was born in New Haven, Connecticut, where his father was a professor of sacred literature at Yale University's Divinity School, best known today for his involvement in the Amistad trial. (Though his father was also named Josiah Willard, he is not referred to as "Josiah Willard Gibbs, Jr.") Gibbs attended Yale College of Yale University, receiving prizes in mathematics and Latin. Gibbs was the seventh in a long line of American academics stretching back to the 17th century. He graduated, high in his class, in 1858. Middle years Gibbs continued his studies at Yale, gaining his Ph.D. degree in 1863. This was the first engineering doctorate granted in the United States. He then tutored in Yale College: two years in Latin and a year in what was then called "natural philosophy." In 1866 he went to Europe to study, spending one year each at Paris, Berlin, and Heidelberg, where he was influenced by the luminaries Kirchhoff and Helmholtz. These three years were almost the only time he was ever away from the New Haven area. In 1869 he returned to Yale and, in 1871, he was appointed Professor of Mathematical Physics. This was the first professorship in mathematical physics in the United States. It was unpaid, in part because Gibbs had never published. Gibbs then started work on the development and presentation of his theory of thermodynamics. In 1873, Gibbs published a paper on the geometric representation of thermodynamic quantities. This paper inspired Maxwell to make (with his own hands) a plaster cast illustrating Gibbs' construct (which he sent to Gibbs and which Yale still retains with great pride). Gibbs next published the paper "On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances", which clearly revealed the genius of its author. This appeared in two installments in 1876 and 1878. Gibbs' papers on heterogeneous equilibria included:
Later years In 1880, Gibbs was offered a $3000 salary by the new Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and Yale responded by offering him $2000, which seemingly was enough to keep him in New Haven. From 1880 to 1884, Gibbs combined the ideas of the Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton on quaternions and the German Hermann Grassmann's Theory of Extension (Ausdehnungslehre) to produce the mathematical field of vector analysis (co-independent formulation; Oliver Heaviside also developed this field). Gibbs designed this to suit the purposes of mathematical physics. From 1882 to 1889, Gibbs researched optics, developing a new electrical theory of light. Gibbs also completed his vector analysis during this time. He deliberately avoided theorizing on the structure of matter, developing a theory of more generality than any type of matter composition would imply. After 1889, Gibbs produced milestone textbooks on statistical mechanics, which were published by Yale in 1902. Other areas Gibbs contributed to include crystallography and the determinism of planetary and comet orbits, the latter by application of his vector methods. Gibbs never married, but lived with his sister and brother-in-law. His brother-in-law was librarian at Yale and publisher of the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Sciences, the little read journal which published most of Gibbs' work. Death and afterwards Gibbs remained at Yale until his death in 1903. Since Gibbs died shortly after the inauguration of the Nobel Prizes, he never won a Nobel. However, his receipt of the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom is regarded as the highest honor available at the time from the international scientific community. Scientific recognition Recognition was slow in coming, in good part because Gibbs published mainly in the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Sciences, a journal, edited by his librarian brother-in-law, little read in the USA and less so in Europe. At first, only a few European theoretical physicists and chemists, such as the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, paid any attention to his work. Only when Gibbs's papers were translated into German (then the leading language for chemistry) by Wilhelm Ostwald in 1892, and into French by Henri Louis le Chatelier in 1899, did his ideas receive wide currency in Europe. His theory of the phase rule was experimentally validated by the works of H. W. Bakhuis Roozeboom who could show how to apply it to various cases, thereby giving it widespread use. The situation in his native America was even quieter. During Gibbs's lifetime, American secondary schools and colleges emphasized classics rather than science, students tended to take little interest in Gibbs's lectures. (The notions that scientific teaching and research are a fundamental part of the modern university arose in Germany during the 19th century, and only gradually spread from there to the USA.) The result was a situation described as follows: "In his later years he was a tall, dignified gentleman, with a healthy stride and ruddy complexion, performing his share of household chores, approachable and kind (if unintelligible) to students. Gibbs was highly esteemed by his friends, but American science was too preoccupied with practical questions to make much use of his profound theoretical work during his lifetime. He lived out his quiet life at Yale, deeply admired by a few able students but making no immediate impress on American science commensurate with his genius." (Crowther 1969: nnn) Gibbs died soon after the inauguration of the Nobel Prize and so did not win it. He did receive, however, the highest possible honor granted by the international scientific community of his day, the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, in 1901. In 1945, Yale University created the J. Willard Gibbs Professorship in Theoretical Chemistry, held until 1973 by Lars Onsager, who won the 1968 Nobel Prize in chemistry. This appointment was a very fitting one, as Onsager was primarily involved, like Gibbs, in the application of new mathematical ideas to problems in physical chemistry, especially statistical mechanics. On May 4, 2005 the United States Postal Service issued the American Scientists commemorative postage stamp series, depicting Josiah Willard Gibbs, John von Neumann, Barbara McClintock and Richard Feynman. See also
Further reading Primary:
Secondary :
USA stamp commemorating thermodynamicist J.W. Gibbs Links and references Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/" |
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