Warmth Disperses and Time Passes: The History of Heat (Modern Library Paperbacks)

by Hans Christian Von Baeyer

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If you want to know what's happening in the world, follow the heat. Why can't your coffee "steal" heat from the air to stay piping hot? Why can't Detroit make a car that's 100 percent efficient? Why can't some genius make a perpetual motion machine? The answers lie in the field of thermodynamics, the study of heat, which turns out to be the key to an astonishing number of scientific puzzles, including why time inexorably runs in only one direction. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; In Warmth Disperses and Time Passes: The History of Heat, physics professor Hans Christian von Baeyer tells the story of heat through the lives of the scientists who discovered it. With his trademark elegant prose, eye for lively detail, and gift for lucid explanation, Professor von Baeyer turns the contemplation of a cooling coffee cup into a beguiling portrait of the birth of a science with relevance to almost every aspect of our lives.… (more)

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von Baeyer here is the indigo synthesizng guys grandson , was college roomates with John Giorno ( of Warhol's film of him being asleep for five hours ) And the book is very good too (

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Baku-X | Jan 10, 2017 |

von Baeyer here is the indigo synthesizng guys grandson , was college roomates with John Giorno ( of Warhol's film of him being asleep for five hours ) And the book is very good too (

)

BakuDreamer | Sep 7, 2013 |

The laws of thermodynamics are definitely amongst the most important and significant parts of physics. The second law (entropy or disorder will increase over time) particularly is a curious beast: it's obvious (put a warm tea cup on the table and it will cool down), but also very hard to explain.

Maxwell's demon, a jolly little creature invented by James Clerk Maxwell, was a thought experiment that's threatened the second law many times, by forcing the heat to move in the wrong direction. Von Baeyer explains all about the demon and the several attempts for its life while going through the history of thermodynamics.

It's a fascinating history with good characters and a nice, easy-to-read style to it. If you're at all interested in thermodynamics - and you should be - this is a good introduction. (Review based on the Finnish translation.)

(Original review from my review blog.) (

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msaari | Aug 10, 2007 |

von Baeyer, Hans Christian. Maxwell's Demon: Why Warmth Disperses and Time Passes. Random House, New York, 1998. Great book. It's rare to find a popular science book that covers something I don't know, especially something in Physics. But I don't know thermodynamics, and von Baeyer does a great job explaining its importance. I have a better notion of entropy and its importance, and I have a better idea of the exciting discoveries that can still be made in this field. Furthermore, I have some items I want to follow up on. You really can't ask for anything more in a science book. I should drop a letter to ol' von Baeyer, W&M professor, and let him know how much I enjoyed his book.

BrianDewey | Aug 1, 2007 |

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If you want to know what's happening in the world, follow the heat. Why can't your coffee "steal" heat from the air to stay piping hot? Why can't Detroit make a car that's 100 percent efficient? Why can't some genius make a perpetual motion machine? The answers lie in the field of thermodynamics, the study of heat, which turns out to be the key to an astonishing number of scientific puzzles, including why time inexorably runs in only one direction. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; In Warmth Disperses and Time Passes: The History of Heat, physics professor Hans Christian von Baeyer tells the story of heat through the lives of the scientists who discovered it. With his trademark elegant prose, eye for lively detail, and gift for lucid explanation, Professor von Baeyer turns the contemplation of a cooling coffee cup into a beguiling portrait of the birth of a science with relevance to almost every aspect of our lives.

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