Abstract
I. WHEN, in 1864, I wrote for the Reader the history of the Baconian Philosophy of Heat, I found in use, in connection with the subject, the term “dynamical theory of heat,” in English, which was employed as an equivalent for the expression “mechanische Wärmetheorie,” current in German. The word “dynamical,” already so vague from frequent abuse, corresponded but little, when used in its proper meaning, to the real intent of the theory in question; and the same remark applies, with at least equal force, to the word “mechanisch,” even wider in its scope and as often misused. I was thus led to adopt the word “Kinetic,” to supersede the above; and that in preference to the current word, “cinematic,” which, in conjunction with “theory,” would imply a tautology.
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AKIN, C. “Kinetic” and “Transmutation”. Nature 2, 211 (1870). https://doi.org/10.1038/002211a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/002211a0
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