The Gibbs-Thomson Equation

2020 ◽  
pp. 109-140
Author(s):  
Brian Cantor
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Bulk Material ◽  
Equilibrium Shape ◽  
Surface Adsorption ◽  
Internal Interface ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
Lord Kelvin

The external surface of a material has an atomic or molecular structure that is different from the bulk material. So does any internal interface within a material. Because of this, the energy of a material or any grain or particle within it increases with the curvature of its bounding surface, as described by the Gibbs-Thomson equation. This chapter explains how surfaces control the nucleation of new phases during reactions such as solidification and precipitation, the coarsening and growth of particles during heat treatment, the equilibrium shape of crystals, and the surface adsorption and segregation of solutes and impurities. The Gibbs-Thomson was predated by a number of related equations; it is not clear whether it is named after J. J. Thomson or William Thomson (Lord Kelvin); and it was not put into its current usual form until after Gibbs’, Thomson’s and Kelvin’s time. J. J. Thomson was the third Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge University. He discovered the electron, which had a profound impact on the world, notably via Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb, and subsequent building of the world’s first electricity distribution network. William Thomson was Professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow University. He made major scientific developments, notably in thermodynamics, and he helped build the first trans-Atlantic undersea telegraph. Because of his scientific pre-eminence, the absolute unit of temperature, the degree Kelvin, is named after him.

"Creeping Spatiality": The Location of Nous in Plotinus' Universe

Phronesis ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
World View ◽  
Spatial Language ◽  
Prime Mover ◽  
The Third ◽  
Spatial Sense ◽  
The World

AbstractThere is a well-known tension in Plotinus' thought regarding the location of the intelligible region. He appears to make three mutually incompatible claims about it: (1) it is everywhere; (2) it is nowhere; and (3) it borders on the heavens, where the third claim is associated with Plotinus' affection for cosmic religion. Traditionally, although scholars have found a reasonable way to make sense of the compatibility of the first two claims, they have sought to relieve the tension generated by (3) by both downplaying the importance of cosmic religion to Plotinus and reinterpreting his spatial language metaphorically. In this paper I argue that both of these maneuvers are unsatisfactory. Rather, it is possible to reconcile Plotinus' metaphysics with the world-view of cosmic religion (CR world-view), i.e., to retain the spatial sense of Plotinus' language without making his metaphysics incoherent.In the first part of this paper, I show that cosmic religion is not just an awkward appendage to Plotinus' metaphysics. After explaining what cosmic religion involves, I argue that the CR world-view is in fact central to his natural philosophy. Then, I turn to the problem of the compatibility between cosmic religion and Plotinus' thought. By carefully considering how Aristotle's Prime Mover is present to his universe, I show how we can make claims (2) and (3) compatible for Plotinus. Then, I argue that Plotinus' own account of the omnipresence of soul and its powers' actualizations in particular locations provides a parallel to the problem of the compatibility between (1) and (3), and further that these two accounts can be combined to resolve completely the tension between the CR world-view and Plotinus' metaphysics. In the final section, I discuss the implications this has for our understanding of the soul's ascent and descent.

scholarly journals Thermodynamics and Sources of Solar Heat, 1846–1862

1982 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank A. J. L. James
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Long Period ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Laws Of Thermodynamics ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
Evolution By Natural Selection ◽  
Lord Kelvin ◽  
Geological Sciences

In 1859 Charles Darwin in chapter nine of the Origin of Species showed how he had calculated that the age of the Weald was three hundred million years and that consequently the age of the earth was considerably greater than that. Darwin of course needed such a long period of time for the process of evolution by natural selection to occur. Arguments which showed that the earth could not be that old would therefore cast serious doubt on his theory. Such views were advanced in 1862 by William Thomson, later Lord Kelvin, professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow. He specifically challenged the result of Darwin's calculation of the age of the Weald by arguing that the sun could not have emitted its heat and light for that length of time. The consequences of this assertion for the biological and geological sciences for the remainder of the nineteenth century have already been delineated by Burchfield. What I wish to do in this paper is to show that the theoretical basis of Thomson's 1862 assertion had not been specifically developed as a response to Darwin, but that it was a consequence of the formulation of the first two laws of thermodynamics. I shall also show that Thomson's work was not done in isolation but that the question of the maintenance of solar energy was a serious concern of a number of physicists who had formulated the laws of thermodynamics.

Langscape 4: Surveying contemporary English usage

English Today ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
Pam Peters
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
World Language ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
International Work ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
English Usage ◽  
Australian English ◽  
Year 2000

LANGSCAPE is a Cambridge University Press project associated with both ‘English Today’ and a new international usage guide for the year 2000 by Pam Peters, author of the ‘Cambridge Australian English Style Guide’ (1995). Like the Australian publication, the international work will be distinctive in its use of empirical evidence from computer corpora as well as data elicited from surveys of users of English round the world. Because English is a world language, any account of usage that is limited to one person's views and resources is inadequate. The first topic and questionnaire (‘The ubiquitous letter e’) appeared in ET53 (Jan 98), the second (‘To capitalize or not to capitalize’) in ET54 (Apr 98) and the third (‘Differing on agreement’) in ET55 (Jul 98). See the accompanying box for further information on the Survey.

Langscape 5: Surveying contemporary English usage

English Today ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pam Peters
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
World Language ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
International Work ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
English Usage ◽  
Australian English ◽  
Year 2000

LANGSCAPE is a Cambridge University Press project associated with both ‘English Today’ and a new international usage guide for the year 2000 by Pam Peters, author of the ‘Cambridge Australian English Style Guide’ (1995). Like the Australian publication, the international work will be distinctive in its use of empirical evidence from computer corpora as well as data elicited from surveys of users of English round the world. Because English is a world language, any account of usage that is limited to one person's views and resources is inadequate. The first topic and questionnaire (‘The ubiquitous letter e’) appeared in ET53 (Jan 98), the second (‘To capitalize or not to capitalize’) in ET54 (Apr 98), the third (‘Differing on agreement’) in ET55 (Jul 98) and the fourth (‘Permanent loans: plurals for Latin borrowings’) in ET56 (Oct 98). See the accompanying box for further information on the Survey.

Langscape 6: Surveying contemporary English usage

English Today ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
Pam Peters
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
World Language ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
International Work ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
English Usage ◽  
Australian English ◽  
Year 2000

LANGSCAPE is a Cambridge University Press project associated with both ‘English Today’ and a new international usage guide for the year 2000 by Pam Peters, author of the ‘Cambridge Australian English Style Guide’ (1995). Like the Australian publication, the international work will be distinctive in its use of empirical evidence from computer corpora as well as data elicited from surveys of users of English round the world. Because English is a world language, any account of usage that is limited to one person's views and resources is inadequate. The first topic and questionnaire (‘The ubiquitous letter e’) appeared in ET53 (Jan 98), the second (‘To capitalize or not to capitalize’) in ET54 (Apr 98), the third (‘Differing on agreement’) in ET55 (Jul 98), the fourth (‘Permanent loans: plurals for Latin borrowings’) in ET56 (Oct 98), and the fifth (‘Jots and tittles’) in ET57 (Jan 99). See the accompanying box for further information on the Survey.

scholarly journals Milestones for Palliative & Supportive Care

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-263
Author(s):  
WILLIAM BREITBART
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Supportive Care ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World

With the publication of Volume 3, Number 4 of our journal, Palliative & Supportive Care, we have reached several important milestones that are noteworthy. I am pleased to say that with this issue, we successfully conclude the third year of publication of our new journal, whose acceptance in the scientific and academic community was not a matter of certitude. We had the idealistic mission of providing an intellectual and journalistic home for that small (but growing) band of academicians around the world who were focusing their work in palliative care, with particular emphasis on the psychiatric, existential, and spiritual aspects of care. We have survived! Our survival is due, in no small part, to the contributions of researchers all around the world who have so graciously and generously submitted their work to us for publication. Palliative & Supportive Care is truly an international journal, with authors from more than 15 countries contributing to the journal these past three years. Our thanks also to our wonderful Editorial Board and dedicated reviewers. I know that I speak on behalf of my coeditors, Drs. Chochinov and Wein, when I say that these three years have been extraordinarily challenging, exciting, and extremely rewarding. However, none of it would be possible without the dedication of our Managing Editor, Donna Cassetta, and the wonderful support of the staff at Cambridge University Press, which publishes our journal.

Natural Philosophy and Thermodynamics: William Thomson and ‘The Dynamical Theory of Heat’

1976 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crosbie Smith
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Dynamical Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Experimental Basis ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Joseph Larmor ◽  
The World ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
Classical Thermodynamics ◽  
Mathematical Physicist

William Thomson's image as a professional mathematical physicist who adheres, particularly in his work in classical thermodynamics, to a strict experimental basis for his science, avoids speculative hypotheses, and becomes renowned for his omission of philosophical declarations has been reinforced in varying degrees by those historians who have attempted, as either admirers or critics of Thomson, to describe and assess his life. J. G. Crowther, for example, sees him as a thinker of great intellectual strength, but deficient in intellectual taste; a scientist aware only of his immediate work and without depth of vision. Not well read in the literature of the subjects of his research, Thomson is seen, moreover, as one whose achievements owe little to the work of others, and whose great personality ‘is an expression in the realm of ideas of the power and blindness of capitalism’, especially through ‘his view of the world in terms of engineering conceptions’. On the other hand, even Sir Joseph Larmor, for whom Thomson was nothing less than a hero, is to be found ascribing to him the epithet of pragmatist.

Background to the Joule-Mayer Controversy

1970 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-225 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
University Library ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
George Boole ◽  
Lord Kelvin

A COLLECTION of letters to William Thomson, F.R.S. (Lord Kelvin), Professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow University from 1846-1899, which is now in the possession of Glasgow University Library, seems not to have been available to the biographers of Thomson, Tait, Joule and Maxwell. The correspondence dates mainly from the period 1850-1870 and includes 102 letters from J. P. Joule, 95 from P. G. Tait, 24 from J. C. Maxwell, 5 from H. Helmholz, and many others from Thomson’s colleagues on the Atlantic Cable project—Varley, Fleeming Jenkin, Osborne, etc. There is also a number of letters from Thomson to various correspondents, notably including 16 to George Boole, dating from 1845-1848.

scholarly journals Lord Rayleigh, 1875 - 1947

1949 ◽  
Vol 6 (18) ◽  
pp. 502-538 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Tropical Agriculture ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
The Third ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Henry Sidgwick ◽  
The Family ◽  
The World

Robert John Strutt, fourth Baron Rayleigh, was born on 28 August 1875. Already well known in the world of science as R. J. Strutt, he succeeded to the title on the death of his distinguished father in 1919. He himself wrote the life of John William Strutt, O.M., F.R.S., the third Baron, and in that biography there is much to be found about the family history. It is sufficient therefore in this notice to refer to a few of the main facts. His mother was Evelyn Georgina Mary, daughter of James Maitland Balfour of Whittingehame, East Lothian; she was a sister of Arthur James Balfour, F.R.S. (Prime Minister, 1902-1905) and a niece of Robert, Marquis of Salisbury, F.R.S. (Prime Minister, 1885, 1886, 1895); her mother, Lady Blanche Cecil, was Lord Salisbury’s sister. His uncle on his mother’s side was Francis Maitland Balfour, F.R.S., and his aunt, Eleanor Mildred, Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, and wife of Professor Henry Sidgwick, Professor of Moral Philosophy, Cambridge University. Several uncles on his father’s side were distinguished agriculturists, C. H. Strutt, M.P. for Maldon, was a pioneer in tropical agriculture, and E. G. Strutt, C.H., well known for his influence on large-scale dairy farming; another, R. Strutt, was also an authority on tropical agriculture. The Strutts were descended from John Strutt ( d. 1694), a mill owner of Moulsham, Chelmsford. There had been a succession of stalwart forbears, who had been members of parliament and leaders in the county. His grandfather was a stoutly religious English gentleman, and his grandmother (Clara Elizabeth) was daughter of Richard Vicars, R.E. Whether it was the austere wisdom of the father, or the instincts engendered by military science of the mother, their son, the third Baron, had all the attributes of genius. Could it have been because he tumbled downstairs and was badly bruised in the head as a baby of twenty months? Who other than a genius could have written the Theory of Sound (or much of it), on board a ‘dahabeah’ on the Nile?

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