Ludwig Boltzmann

Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (February 20, 1844 – September 5, 1906) was an Austrian physicist famous for the invention of statistical mechanics.

Related Topics:
February 20 - 1844 - September 5 - 1906 - Austria - Physicist - Statistical mechanics

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Boltzmann was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria).

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Vienna - Austria-Hungary

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Boltzmann committed suicide in 1906 by hanging himself while on holiday in Duino near Trieste in Italy. The motivation behind the suicide remains unclear, but it may have been related to his lingering resentment over the scientific establishment's rejection of his theories.

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Duino - Trieste - Italy

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There is also a common tale told to students studying thermodynamics that claims Boltzmann committed suicide once he discovered the three laws of thermodynamics. Supposedly, Boltzmann was so shocked and depressed by his results, that he took his life.

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Today, his formula for entropy S is famous:

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: S = k_B ; ln P ; ,

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where kB = 1.3806505(24) × 10−23 J K−1 is the Boltzmann constant and P is the number of possible microscopic states which correspond to the observed thermodynamical state. Indeed this formula, as he published it in the nomenclature of his day,

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: S = k ; log W

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is engraved on Boltzmann's tombstone at the Vienna Zentralfriedhof.

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Tombstone - Zentralfriedhof

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