Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This author is not a philosopher nor a historian of science, but an engineering thermodynamicist. In that regard, and in addition to various philosophical “why and how” treatises and existing historical analyses, the physical and logical “what it is” reflections, as sequential Key Points, where a key Sadi Carnot reasoning infers the next one, along with novel contributions and original generalizations, are presented. We need to keep in mind that in Sadi Carnot’s time (early 1800s), steam engines were inefficient (below 5%, so the heat in and out was comparable within experimental uncertainty, as if caloric were conserved), the conservation of caloric flourished (might be a fortunate misconception leading to the critical analogy with the waterwheel), and many critical thermal concepts, including the conservation of energy (The First Law), were not even established. If Clausius and Kelvin earned the title “Fathers of thermodynamics”, then Sadi Carnot was ‘the ingenious’ “Forefather of thermodynamics-to-become”.
Source: Entropy
DOI: 10.3390/e27050502
Author: Milivoje M. Kostic
Institution: Northern Illinois University
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
OpenAlex ID: W4410161298