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Atoms, mechanics, and probability: Ludwig Boltzmann’s statistico-

mechanical writings – an exegesis, by O. Darrigol: Scope: monograph. Level:
general readership

Article in Contemporary Physics · March 2018

DOI: 10.1080/00107514.2018.1448441

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 Atoms, Mechanics, and Probability

Olivier Darrigol

Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2018, ISBN 9780198816171

monograph, 640 pp, scope: interested readers

Manuel Vogel, GSI Darmstadt

Austrian physicist and philosopher Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (1844 –1906) is presumably best known
for his contributions to kinetic gas theory, and in particular for the development of much of statistical
mechanics. He was a contemporary of James Clerk Maxwell and of Josiah Willard Gibbs, who
prominently shared his proposition that the overall behaviour of matter can be explained from the
properties of its constituting atoms and molecules, at a time when there still was considerable
disbelief not in the reality of atomic particles, but in the emergence of macroscopic properties that
can be predicted from atomistic theory. This disbelief was shared by many important physicists
Boltzmann came in contact with, including the editor of the pre-eminent German physics journal of
the time, a fact that more than once became an obstacle in his scientific career. Contrary to some
common belief, Boltzmann was not a recluse, but worked with numerous important scientists of the
time and was a good lecturer and productive author of scientific articles from 1866 basically until his
death in 1906. The present book is dedicated to Boltzmann as a scientist and in particular to a
detailed description and exegesis of his work. It is correspondingly subtitled `Ludwig Boltzmann's
Statistico-Mechanical Writings - An Exegesis'. It begins with a part A entitled `Preliminaries' that takes
a look at Boltzmann's scientific life and career from the beginnings to his work in Graz, in Vienna,
back in Graz, his professorship in Munich and his later transition from physics to philosophy. It also
gives background information on the related physics of heat, thermodynamics, the kinetic concept of
heat, Maxwell's statistical physics and corresponding subjects. Part B then deals with his writings and
explains the background, content and reception of each of his important publications. This exegesis
chronologically summarizes and discusses articles from different periods. The nine articles written
from 1866 to 1871 are treated under the title `Constructing Thermal Equilibrium'. The four articles
from 1872 to 1875 are summarized under `The Boltzmann Equation and the H Theorem'. `The
Probabilistic Turn' gives an account of the 14 articles from the period between 1876 and 1884, and
the 6 articles published from 1884 to 1887 are discussed as `The Analogical Turn'. 'Consolidation'
describes Boltzmann's work from 1887 to 1895 when he was forced and able to consolidate his
theories under the pressure of external criticism. He himself also acted as a critic of other authors
which is reflected in `The Critical Turn', accounting for his works between 1895 and 1899. Part B ends
with a discussion of Boltzmann's lectures on gas theory from the years 1896 and 1898. Following this
chronological excursion, part C gives `Synthetic Reflections', breaking up the chronology and
presenting Boltzmann's main lines of thought, reflecting on his sources, the tools he used and the
reception his ideas were given. The discussion pays much attention to scientific detail and presents
the material with the same mathematical rigour it was originally brought forward with. The text is
well written, clear and supported by black-and-white figures and historical footnotes. There is a
comprehensive bibliography both of Boltzmann's work and of the work by other authors that is used
in the text. This book can be fully recommended to anyone with some background in mathematics
and physics who is interested in the course of the discussion that led to modern statistical
mechanics. It is also a good read for those interested in Boltzmann as a scientist and those who have
a more general interest in the science of the period.

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