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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
In an excursus developing a modern view of the Carnot-Kelvin aspect of thermodynamics, appended recently to the letters from Clerk Maxwell to his friend W. Thomson reporting the early tentative evolution of the theory of the electro-dynamic field, the account presented by the writer stopped short at putting emphasis on the mystery of temperature, as a unique and supremely significant property of matter in bulk, with its trend to uniformity as presenting the basic thermal problem. The side of the subject involving dynamical analogy was there absent from the development, which was purely formal. It may be well, however, now to offer some general notions such as may be put on record, which arise naturally from that mode of approach to the subject.
* Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 32 (1936), part 5, excursus on pp. 748–50.Google Scholar Since this rather delicate analysis of origins, of essential historical importance in the view of the writer of this note, is perhaps too concise, further considerations are now appended. The ultimate foundation is that at each constant temperature there is conservation of energy, this statement in fact expressing the precise scope and the historic principle of energy; thus the variation of this available energy as expressed analytically is a perfect differential, which, however, implies the essential restriction that no frictional processes are involved. Each term in this differential expression is thus convertible, reversibly, into the denomination of mechanical work; for example, change of density of dissolved substances is so theoretically by transformation through processes involving osmotic pressure by application of semi-permeable partitions.
Important errata are to be noted:
Pp. 740, 741: Shurrock should be Sturrock.
P. 748, near end: A/θ should be ∂A/∂θ.
P. 749, line 11: negative should be positive.
P. 749, line 26: subtracting should be adding.
P. 750, line 19: basis should be basic.