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Maxwell's Demon: Why Warmth Disperses and Time Passes
You arrive at your office and unpack your breakfast from the local deli. The piping-hot coffee and chilly orange juice you purchased just minutes ago are now both disappointingly lukewarm. Why can't the coffee "steal" heat from the juice to stay hot? Why does even the most state-of-the-art car operate at a mere 30 percent efficiency--and why can't Detroit ever better the odds, no matter what space age materials we invent? 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.
If you want to know what's happening in the physical world, you've got to follow the heat. In Maxwell's Why Warmth Disperses and Time Passes, physics professor Hans Christian von Baeyer tells the story of heat through the lives of the scientists who discovered it, most notably James Clerk Maxwell, whose demonic invention has bedeviled generations of physics students with its light-fingered attempts to flout the laws of thermodynamics. An intelligent, submicroscopic gremlin who could sort atoms as they
flew at him, Maxwell's Demon would effectively make an impossible task--forcing heat to flow backward--possible. Explaining why the Demon can't have his day has been an intellectual gauntlet taken up by a century and a half of the world's most brilliant scientists, whose discoveries Professor von Baeyer vividly etches.
The centuries-old discipline of thermodynamics informs today's most cutting-edge research in chaos, complexity, and the grand unified theory of everything--physics' Holy Grail. Even more amazing, the study of heat turns out to explain something seemingly unrelated--time, and why it can run in only one direction.
With his trademark elegant prose, eye for lively detail, and gift for lucid explanation, Professor von Baeyer turns the contemplation of a cooling teacup into a beguiling portrait of the birth of a science with relevance to almost every aspect of our lives. Readers will find themselves rooting for Maxwell's ever-mischievous Demon even as they come to appreciate that he is doomed to failure.
If you want to know what's happening in the physical world, you've got to follow the heat. In Maxwell's Why Warmth Disperses and Time Passes, physics professor Hans Christian von Baeyer tells the story of heat through the lives of the scientists who discovered it, most notably James Clerk Maxwell, whose demonic invention has bedeviled generations of physics students with its light-fingered attempts to flout the laws of thermodynamics. An intelligent, submicroscopic gremlin who could sort atoms as they
flew at him, Maxwell's Demon would effectively make an impossible task--forcing heat to flow backward--possible. Explaining why the Demon can't have his day has been an intellectual gauntlet taken up by a century and a half of the world's most brilliant scientists, whose discoveries Professor von Baeyer vividly etches.
The centuries-old discipline of thermodynamics informs today's most cutting-edge research in chaos, complexity, and the grand unified theory of everything--physics' Holy Grail. Even more amazing, the study of heat turns out to explain something seemingly unrelated--time, and why it can run in only one direction.
With his trademark elegant prose, eye for lively detail, and gift for lucid explanation, Professor von Baeyer turns the contemplation of a cooling teacup into a beguiling portrait of the birth of a science with relevance to almost every aspect of our lives. Readers will find themselves rooting for Maxwell's ever-mischievous Demon even as they come to appreciate that he is doomed to failure.
207 pages, Hardcover
First published June 23, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
April 3, 2022
One third historical, one third biographical and one third scientific. I was expecting it to be more into the concept of heat and thermodynamic, but we spend a lot of time talking about the life of the scientists who work on it and made advance in physic through the year and on when and where it happens. The last part was more interesting, more scientific and the way it presents the second law of thermodynamic with the concept of time is quite interesting and was new for me. It was okay. I’m happy to have read it, but not sure it’s good enough for me to recommend reading it.
June 29, 2021
Pretty good, It’s pretty heavily centred around the first and second law of thermodynamics. Learned a lot about thermodynamic theory in the context of its place in history. The efforts made in putting together a timeline of contributors is the book’s strong suit. It would make a nice pairing to some other material since this book is pretty scarce of actual chemistry.
May 28, 2021
normally i would just get stoned and do this kind of reading on wikipedia but this was a much more enjoyable and cultivated experience
very accessible history of the science of thermodynamics which is massively interesting stuff
pity they had to change the name though because the author really went all in on centring Maxwells Demon in the narrative
very accessible history of the science of thermodynamics which is massively interesting stuff
pity they had to change the name though because the author really went all in on centring Maxwells Demon in the narrative
May 24, 2015
Meh—
From the fact that Nassim Taleb recommends the same author’s book on information theory, I had high hopes for this little book on the history of thermodynamics, but ultimately I was not satisfied with Bayer’s treatment of the subject.
There are good moment to be sure: his literary portrayals of the scientists that give them character & presence, his personal anecdotes about statistics and entropy, and his admirable ability to pack and order the history of heat into a neat little narrative with Maxwell’s demon as the protagonist (of sort). But his almost hypochondriac avoidance of any math coupled with the formulaic cliffhanger ending of almost every chapter and his occasional overblown tone (see, e.g., “As we look at Villard’s ungainly engine, Pascal’s wager wraps its seductive arms around us and lulls reason to sleep. We dream…”) ruined the book for me, leaving me wanting for more depth of analysis and understanding than the author is willing—or trusting the reader—to offer.
Overall, a good primer but ultimately unsatisfying.
From the fact that Nassim Taleb recommends the same author’s book on information theory, I had high hopes for this little book on the history of thermodynamics, but ultimately I was not satisfied with Bayer’s treatment of the subject.
There are good moment to be sure: his literary portrayals of the scientists that give them character & presence, his personal anecdotes about statistics and entropy, and his admirable ability to pack and order the history of heat into a neat little narrative with Maxwell’s demon as the protagonist (of sort). But his almost hypochondriac avoidance of any math coupled with the formulaic cliffhanger ending of almost every chapter and his occasional overblown tone (see, e.g., “As we look at Villard’s ungainly engine, Pascal’s wager wraps its seductive arms around us and lulls reason to sleep. We dream…”) ruined the book for me, leaving me wanting for more depth of analysis and understanding than the author is willing—or trusting the reader—to offer.
Overall, a good primer but ultimately unsatisfying.
August 6, 2013
A pop-history of thermodynamics, presented as a concise and entertaining narrative. An enjoyable primer for thermodynamics, and an extension of other pop science history books which touch on, but do not explore, the history of the subject.
June 27, 2020
Amazing gave me a whole new point of view on thermodynamics and entropy.i learned intuitively about energy and how other scientists interpreted it ,the only downside being should have had a little mathematical equations
April 15, 2024
A concise, well-written book about the laws of thermodynamics. I had never really thought about the fact that a hot coffee will give heat to the cold range juice next to it, but will never draw additional heat from it. Like gravity, this is such an omnipresent, constant observation that one takes it for granted. Unless one is a physicist, in which case it's a source of wonder.
The title refers to a thought experiment devised by Maxwell, in which he envisaged a demon sitting in front of a box divided into a hot and a cold compartment. The demon would carefully select moving molecules (representing heat) from the colder compartment and move them into the warmer compartment, thereby making the warmer compartment warmer and the colder compartment colder. Would this violation of the second law of thermodynamics be possible?
The book takes us through the history of the scientists who pondered the phenomenon of heat dispersion. It was especially interesting to realize how each scientist brought their own perspective and background to the problem. Joule's day job as a beer brewer explains his interest in exact temperature measurements. Maxwell enjoyed mechanical toys and contraptions and that experience colored his approach to science. Sadi Carnot was an engineer and thought in terms of engines and machinery. And others were influenced by a religious or spiritual sense of order in the universe.
These short vignettes bring not just the scientists, but their thought processes to life. I appreciated being taken by the hand by the author and being guided through these different ways of thinking about heat, energy and entropy.
The title refers to a thought experiment devised by Maxwell, in which he envisaged a demon sitting in front of a box divided into a hot and a cold compartment. The demon would carefully select moving molecules (representing heat) from the colder compartment and move them into the warmer compartment, thereby making the warmer compartment warmer and the colder compartment colder. Would this violation of the second law of thermodynamics be possible?
The book takes us through the history of the scientists who pondered the phenomenon of heat dispersion. It was especially interesting to realize how each scientist brought their own perspective and background to the problem. Joule's day job as a beer brewer explains his interest in exact temperature measurements. Maxwell enjoyed mechanical toys and contraptions and that experience colored his approach to science. Sadi Carnot was an engineer and thought in terms of engines and machinery. And others were influenced by a religious or spiritual sense of order in the universe.
These short vignettes bring not just the scientists, but their thought processes to life. I appreciated being taken by the hand by the author and being guided through these different ways of thinking about heat, energy and entropy.
April 28, 2019
While the perpetual motion machine breaks the 1st law of thermodynamics, Maxwell’s Demon breaks the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Even though both ideas have been proven to be wrong, their very idea helped not only define the laws of heat and their representation, but also provoke the conception of marvelous other ideas which prove to be right. This book is more than an exposition of Maxwell’s Demon. This book is about the history and evolution of the what heat is heat while containing many epistemological insights.
The battles of what heat is, took heat out of the context of chemistry and into the context of physics. From heat as a substance to heat as a motion. When heat could not be controlled with certainty, it forced the field of physics to seek probabilities. With the death of many theories came about the life of others such as the significance of heat being information. Maxwell’s Demon incapacity to break the 2nd law of thermodynamics, produced a new life in the field on information.
The book is well written but many transitions lack gumption. The authors lead the reader into the discovery of an insight, but transition is subtle causing the discovery to be underwhelming and easy to not misunderstand. Some parts of the book are difficult to understand as what seems to be simple explanation can make a sudden jump.
The battles of what heat is, took heat out of the context of chemistry and into the context of physics. From heat as a substance to heat as a motion. When heat could not be controlled with certainty, it forced the field of physics to seek probabilities. With the death of many theories came about the life of others such as the significance of heat being information. Maxwell’s Demon incapacity to break the 2nd law of thermodynamics, produced a new life in the field on information.
The book is well written but many transitions lack gumption. The authors lead the reader into the discovery of an insight, but transition is subtle causing the discovery to be underwhelming and easy to not misunderstand. Some parts of the book are difficult to understand as what seems to be simple explanation can make a sudden jump.
September 3, 2021
Picked this up after a sudden impulse to read a short non-fiction book. This is a charming telling of the development of thermodynamics. There is some fun history here (the author likes to paint these really endearing pictures of historical figures), and I think it helped sharpen my understanding of the science as well. Could have used some diagrams to go along with some of the scientific explanations, but overall a neat little book about a great subject. Would recommend, especially if you want to know more about the relationship between thermodynamics and information.
January 28, 2024
2.5 stars
I know this book was about Maxwell's Demon but I felt that it spent too much time on Maxwell's Demon. Also it never got to the third law which feels like important information to just skip.
I know this book was about Maxwell's Demon but I felt that it spent too much time on Maxwell's Demon. Also it never got to the third law which feels like important information to just skip.
August 7, 2017
Actually very interesting the progression of this science.
June 6, 2019
Probably the most readable thermodynamics history ever written. Do not miss.
March 15, 2021
definitely read this by my own free will
November 29, 2021
Pretty good for a nonfiction book about thermodynamics
August 28, 2022
Very well written and introduced well the essentials to understand the impact of heat in our worldview.
June 1, 2023
Part biography and part textbook, this is the story of the scientists who uncovered the mysteries of heat, energy, and entropy. The writing style sways from personal to poetic.
November 10, 2023
Provides some storytelling about the history of discovery in thermodynamics. Got me thinking more about thermo in my daily life and appreciating it.
February 6, 2008
it's a fairly interesting and concise history of thermodynamics as it pertains to atomistic theory. i think this book is well-written given the subject matter-- fairly colloquial as all pop-science texts should be. the author infuses the characters of thermodynamics (discoverers, theorists) with personality and imbues their contributions with an element of kookiness. this, to me, makes the laws of thermodynamics much more relevant and remember-able. thumbs up, von baeyer!
April 11, 2008
Utterly fascinating - the history of the study of thermodynamics, told through brief narratives of many of field's most important contributors & implications of what their discoveries meant then and mean now in the light of more recent discoveries. Well-written and engaging. Chapters are a great length for reading one in a sitting, letting it steep, and reading the next. I read it because I wanted to know why time flows in only one direction... don't you?
June 23, 2015
A very enjoyable read on how the theory of entropy in thermodynamics came to be. Does not get lost in equations, rather focuses on some of the history while giving a good balance to the experiments, thinking of the times, the results, what they meant, how to interpret these results, and what new light this sheds on old thinking. It hold your hand along the way to make sure your following along rather than rushing forward without being boring. Very good.
September 14, 2008
This is an incredible, surpringly entertaining read about one of my favorite subjects: the second law of thermodynamics. Find out why Maxwell's Demon can't exist, and why time travel has its own set of unique problems. My copy of this book is so underlined and dog eared that I can barely read it anymore, but I always keep it near my bed.
August 10, 2011
This is a highly accessible--even fun!--history of thermodynamics. I picked it up to fill out the bibliography for my dissertation on nineteenth-century science and science fiction, and I think it's the best popular explanation of the topic I've seen.
January 21, 2008
I'm not sure I actually finished this one. But a fascinating read. von Baeyer is a great author for science history. Fermi Solution was great.
October 31, 2008
Tremendously easy to read. Witty and illuminating. One to be reread.
April 15, 2021
Yep, still good. The reread does not disappoint. Three cheers for thermodynamics!
July 27, 2010
Nothing special - just a pretty good history of the development of thermodynamics. Easy, fast read - not technical at all.
Read
February 21, 2010Warmth Disperses and Time Passes : The History of Heat (Modern Library Paperbacks) by Hans Christian Von Baeyer (1999)
January 8, 2011
Puts a historical face to thermodynamics that helps make it bearable!!
November 16, 2011
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
October 5, 2012
A very nice book on the history of thermodynamics. Not mathematical at all, if you're put off by that sort of thing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews