Abstract
THE motion of a given conservative dynamical system is a problem which can be reduced to the consideration of the properties of the functions defined by its Hamiltonian equations of motion. These equations are themselves deduced by allowing infinitesimal departures of the system from its actual course. In an endeavour to base the laws of thermodynamics on mechanical grounds, Maxwell, Boltzmann, and Clausius were led to consider assemblies of similar systems, each possessing its own configuration and velocities. Even were it possible to describe minutely the configuration at a given time of each member of an assembly consisting of a large number of such systems, it is doubtful whether our senses would be acute enough to appreciate the implications of such a description.
Statistical Mechanics: the Theory of the Properties of Matter in Equilibrium.
Based on an Essay awarded the Adams Prize in the University of Cambridge, 1923–24. By R. H. Fowler. Pp. viii + 570. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1929.) 35s. net.
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MILNE-THOMSON, L. Statistical Mechanics. Nature 123, 865–866 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/123865a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/123865a0
