Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Boltzmann: a disordered genius



Born in Vienna on 20 February 1844 during the night between Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, Boltzmann used to say that this was why his mood could swing so violently from one of great happiness to one of deep depression. It was a tragedy that Boltzmann did not live to experience the glory of his pioneering ideas, for he committed suicide during one such depression in September 1906. 

Ludwig Boltzmann: The Man Who Trusted Atoms Carlo Cercignani
1998 Oxford University Press 348pp 

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