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SUMMARY:Thermodynamics de-mystified? /Thermodynamics without Ansätze? - J
 ohn Ellis\, SMF Group\, Cavendish Laboratory\, Cambridge
DTSTART:20171026T150000Z
DTEND:20171026T160000Z
UID:TALK73951@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Stephen Walley
DESCRIPTION:Thermodynamics occupies a curious position in the body of scie
 ntific understanding. It contains arguably the only scientific law that is
  universally agreed to be inviolable\, yet is surrounded by such mystery t
 hat it can almost seem an act of faith to believe that it is true. Textboo
 ks pluck random formulae from thin air\, with murmurings about Ansätze\, 
 and create the general air of ‘well\, we can see this works but goodness
  knows how’. Of course there is always the perfectly correct bottom line
  – if the model works then it is useful – though even then we jump too
  quickly to the conclusion that if a model is isomorphic with nature\, the
 n nature actually is as proposed by the model\, but whilst this ‘we acce
 pt it because it works’ bottom line is usually all we have in science an
 yway\, it always begs the question ‘why’\, and indeed we feel that unt
 il we can get beyond laws of science that merely correctly predict what na
 ture does\, and move on to understand the ‘why’\, we have hardly start
 ed on the task.\n\nUnlike many more fundamental areas of science\, thermod
 ynamics occupies a middle ground – it sits on top of quantum and classic
 al mechanics – which for its purposes can be taken\, warts and all\, as 
 delivered. This means then that one really should be able to answer the qu
 estion why\, and not hide in mystery and Ansätze\, and in this seminar I 
 will have a go at showing how this can be done. Much of this is\, of cours
 e\, not new – but I think some genuinely is\, and the synthesis of previ
 ous work I think also sheds light on the subject.\n\nThe seminar assumes a
  1B understanding of thermodynamics and that the listener is troubled by t
 he way it is traditionally presented. I hope it will be of interest for th
 ose who are supervising undergraduate thermodynamics courses\, and that pe
 rhaps some who have lectured and written on the subject might come and giv
 e a critique of the approach presented.
LOCATION:Mott Seminar Room\, Cavendish Laboratory
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