Abstract
No principal distinction exists, as mentioned earlier, between diffusion of molecules and diffusion of colloids as both represent thermal motion. ‘Brownian motion’ is the habitual term for colloids; the naming is appropriate as it was Robert Brown who was the first to publish on systematic observations of colloids in motion. Below we will outline Brown’s findings and summarize their history of reception, with a crucial role for the kinetic theory of matter that was developed in the second half of the 19th century.
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Notes
- 1.
These particles are now known to be membrane-bound structures called organelles, including amyloplast which store starch. They have nothing to do with plant fertilization.
- 2.
Brown employs the term ‘molecules’ to denote small self-moving particles.
- 3.
“Spontaneous movement is a characteristic sign of life […] Such a movement is never exhibited by non-living objects”. A. C. Dutta, A Class-Book of Botany (17th “new revised edition”, Oxford, 2000)
- 4.
From the Greek kinetikos derived from the verb kinein ‘to move’.
- 5.
J. C. Maxwell, Theory of Heat (1888). Unabridged republication by Dover (2001).
- 6.
The Sphinx (see cover frontispiece) was a horrendous female monster with a women’s head, the body of a lion and wings of a bird. She ravaged the city of Thebes, devouring anyone who failed to correctly resolve her riddle.
- 7.
Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. 64, (1774), 445. See also C. H. Giles, Franklin’s tea spoon of oil, Soc. Chemistry & Industry, Nov. 8, 1969.
- 8.
Proc. Roy. Soc. (London) 47, (1890), 364.
- 9.
From the Greek a-tomos ‘un-cuttable’.
- 10.
This constant was actually not employed by Boltzmann, see also Fig. 2.3.
- 11.
- 12.
A. Einstein, Autobiographical Notes, in Paul A. Schilpp (Ed.) Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist Vol. 1, p. 47; The Library of Living Philosophers (Open Court Company, 1969).
- 13.
How he came to this insight is eloquently related by Einstein himself in A. Einstein in: Paul A. Schilpp, op. cit. p. 51.
References
Brown reported his observations in: R. Brown, A Brief Account of Microscopical Observations Made in the Months of June, July, and August 1827, on the Particles contained in the Pollen of Plants; and on the General Existence of active Molecules in Organic and Inorganic Bodies, Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal 5 (1828) 358–371; The Philosophical Magazine and Annals of Philosophy Series 2, 4 (1829) 161–173. R. Brown, Additional Remarks on Active Molecules, Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal 8 (1829) 314–319; The Philosophical Magazine and Annals of Philosophy Series 2, 6 (1829) 161–166.
For a reconstruction and thorough analysis of Brown’s observations, see P. Bearle, B. Collett, K. Bart, D. Bilderback, D. Newman and S. Samuels, What Brown saw and you can too, Am. J. Phys. 78 (12) (2010) 1278–1289.
Perrin’s book remains an example of engaging and lucid science writing: J. Perrin, Atoms (London: Constable & Company, 1916) Transl. D.L. Hamminck.
For an annotated translation of J. Loschmidt, Zur Grösse der Luftmoleküle, Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien 52 (1865) 395–407, see: W.W. Porterfield and W. Kruse, Loschmidt and the Discovery of the Small, J. Chem. Education 72 (1995) 870–875.
The contributions of Wiener and Delsaulx: Chr. Wiener, Erklärung des atomistischen Wesens des tropfbar-flüssigen Körperzuständes, und Bestätigung desselben durch die sogenannten Molecularbewegungen, Annalen der Physik und Chemie 118 (1863) 97–94. J. Delsaulx, Thermo-dynamic Origin of the Brownian Motion, The Monthly Microscopical Journal 18 (1877) 1–7.
For the blood clotting story of Oedipus and the riddle of the Sphinx, see f.e. Jenny March, Dictionary of Classical Mythology (London: Cassell, 1999).
The quote from Lucretius is from: On the Nature of the Universe, translated by R. E. Latham (Penguin Books, 1986), p. 63–64. For a verse translation see: On the Nature of the Universe, A New Verse Translation by Ronald Melville (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1997).
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Philipse, A.P. (2018). A Feverish Sphinx. In: Brownian Motion. Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98053-9_2
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