Publisher's Synopsis
Written by J. Willard Gibbs, the most distinguished American mathematical physicist of the nineteenth century, this book was the first to bring together and arrange in logical order the works of Clausius, Maxwell, Boltzmann, and Gibbs himself. The lucid, advanced-level text remains a valuable collection of fundamental equations and principles. The chapters include: (1) General Notions - The Principle of Conservation of Extension-in-Phase, (2) Application of the Principle of Conservation of Extension-in-Phase to the Theory of Errors, (3) Application of the Principle of Conservation of Extension-in-Phase to the Integration of the Differential Equations of Motion, (4) On the Distribution-in-Phase Called Canonical in Which the Index of Probability is a Linear Function of the Energy, (5) Average Values in a Canonical Ensemble of Systems, (6) Extension-in-Configuration and Extension-in-Velocity, (7) Farther Discussion of Averages in a Canonical Ensemble of Systems, (8) On Certain Important Functions of the Energies of a System, (9) The Function and the Canonical Distribution, (10) On a Distribution in Phase Called Microcanonical in Which All the Systems Have the Same Energy, (11) Maximum and Minimum Properties of Various Distributions in Phase, (12) On the Motion of Systems and Ensembles of Systems Through Long Periods of Time, (13) Effect of Various Processes on a Ensemble of Systems, (14) Discussion of Thermodynamic Analogies, and (15) Systems Composed of Molecules. It is a pleasure to publish this new, high quality, and affordable edition of this timeless book.
