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Boltzmann and Statistical Mechanics

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Dynamics: Models and Kinetic Methods for Non-equilibrium Many Body Systems

Part of the book series: NATO Science Series ((NSSE,volume 371))

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Abstract

I received two invitations to this meeting: in the first unofficial one I was asked to speak ”on the transport properties of dense gases”. This involves the generalization of the Boltzmann equation to higher densities, a topic on which I have worked for more than 35 years. Later, I also received an official invitation, in which I was asked to give a lecture of “a generalized character”. Although the first topic would be a natural and relatively easy one, since I have spoken on it often and thought about it a lot, the second one seemed much more difficult but irresistibly challenging, in allowing me to view Boltzmann’s work in the last century from the perspective of the end of this century. This seems at first sight to be a precarious undertaking for a research scientist, but, as I hope to make clear to you, there may be advantages to this. While the historian of science is able to place the work of a scientist of the past in the context of that of his contemporaries, the research scientist can place the work of that scientist in the context of present day research and, up to a point, identify with his difficulties and achievements in the past on the basis of his own experience in the present day. I embark then on my perilous self-imposed task in the hope of providing some new perspectives on Boltzmann and his work, which are, I hope, historically not too inaccurate as far as the past is concerned, and stimulating, if not provocative, as far as the future is concerned.

The author and editor are very grateful to the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome for giving their permission to republish this lecture, which was first published in issue 131 of the Atti Dei Convegni Lincei. That issue contains this and all other lectures presented at an International Conference “Boltzmann’s Legacy -150 Years After His Birth”, organized by the Accademia dei Lincei, 25-28 May, 1994, in Rome.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Studies in Physics and Biology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    E. G. D. Cohen

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  1. Department of Physics, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    John Karkheck

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Cohen, E.G.D. (2000). Boltzmann and Statistical Mechanics. In: Karkheck, J. (eds) Dynamics: Models and Kinetic Methods for Non-equilibrium Many Body Systems. NATO Science Series, vol 371. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4365-3_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4365-3_13

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