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versity of paris in 1914。 despite her two nobelprizes； she was never elected to the academy of sciences； in large part because after the deathof pierre she conducted an affair with a married physicist that was sufficiently indiscreet toscandalize even the french鈥攐r at least the old men who ran the academy； which is perhapsanother matter。
for a long time it was assumed that anything so miraculously energetic as radioactivitymust be beneficial。 for years； manufacturers of toothpaste and laxatives put radioactivethorium in their products； and at least until the late 1920s the glen springs hotel in the fingerlakes region of new york （and doubtless others as well） featured with pride the therapeuticeffects of its 鈥渞adioactive mineral springs。鈥潯adioactivity wasn鈥檛 banned in consumerproducts until 1938。 by this time it was much too late for madame curie； who died ofleukemia in 1934。 radiation； in fact； is so pernicious and long lasting that even now herpapers from the 1890s鈥攅ven her cookbooks鈥攁re too dangerous to handle。 her lab books arekept in lead…lined boxes； and those who wish to see them must don protective clothing。
thanks to the devoted and unwittingly high…risk work of the first atomic scientists； by theearly years of the twentieth century it was being clear that earth was unquestionablyvenerable； though another half century of science would have to be done before anyone couldconfidently say quite how venerable。 science； meanwhile； was about to get a new age of itsown鈥攖he atomic one。
part iii a new age dawnsa physicist is the atoms鈥櫋ay of thinking about atoms。
…anonymous
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8 EINSTEIN鈥橲 UNIVERSEAS
灏忥紝璇达蓟t。xt锛诲ぉ鍫傦綕
the nineteenth century drew to a close； scientists could reflect with satisfaction thatthey had pinned down most of the mysteries of the physical world： electricity； magnetism；gases； optics； acoustics； kinetics； and statistical mechanics； to name just a few； all had falleninto order before them。 they had discovered the x ray； the cathode ray； the electron； andradioactivity； invented the ohm； the watt； the kelvin； the joule； the amp； and the little erg。
if a thing could be oscillated； accelerated； perturbed； distilled； bined； weighed； or madegaseous they had done it； and in the process produced a body of universal laws so weightyand majestic that we still tend to write them out in capitals： the electromagnetic field theoryof light； richter鈥檚 law of reciprocal proportions； charles鈥檚 law of gases； the law ofbining volumes； the zeroth law； the valence concept； the laws of mass actions； andothers beyond counting。 the whole world clanged and chuffed with the machinery andinstruments that their ingenuity had produced。 many wise people believed that there wasnothing much left for science to do。
in 1875； when a young german in kiel named max planck was deciding whether to devotehis life to mathematics or to physics； he was urged most heartily not to choose physicsbecause the breakthroughs had all been made there。 the ing century； he was assured；would be one of consolidation and refinement； not revolution。 planck didn鈥檛 listen。 he studiedtheoretical physics and threw himself body and soul into work on entropy； a process at theheart of thermodynamics； which seemed to hold much promise for an ambitious young man。
1in 1891 he produced his results and learned to his dismay that the important work on entropyhad in fact been done already； in this instance by a retiring scholar at yale university namedj。 willard gibbs。
gibbs is perhaps the most brilliant person that most people have never heard of。 modest tothe point of near invisibility； he passed virtually the whole of his life； apart from three yearsspent studying in europe； within a three…block area bounded by his house and the yalecampus in new haven； connecticut。 for his first ten years at yale he didn鈥檛 even bother todraw a salary。 （he had independent means。） from 1871； when he joined the university as aprofessor； to his death in 1903； his courses attracted an average of slightly over one student asemester。 his written work was difficult to follow and employed a private form of notationthat many found inprehensible。 but buried among his arcane formulations were insightsof the loftiest brilliance。
in 1875鈥�78； gibbs produced a series of papers； collectively titledon the equilibrium ofheterogeneous substances ； that dazzlingly elucidated the thermodynamic principles of； well；1specifically it is a measure of randomness or disorder in a system。 darrell ebbing； in the textbook generalchemistry； very usefully suggests thinking of a deck of cards。 a new pack fresh out of the box； arranged by suitand in sequence from ace to king； can be said to be in its ordered state。 shuffle the cards and you put them in adisordered state。 entropy is a way of measuring just how disordered that state is and of determining thelikelihood of particular outes with further shuffles。 of course； if you wish to have any observationspublished in a respectable journal you will need also to understand additional concepts such as thermalnonuniformities； lattice distances； and stoichiometric relationships； but thats the general idea。
nearly everything鈥斺�済ases； mixtures； surfaces； solids； phase changes 。 。 。 chemical reactions；electrochemical cells； sedimentation； and osmosis；鈥潯o quote william h。 cropper。 in essencewhat gibbs did was show that thermodynamics didn鈥檛 apply simply to heat and energy at thesort of large and noisy scale of the steam engine； but was also present and influential at theatomic level of chemical reactions。 gibbs鈥檚 equilibrium has been called 鈥渢he principia ofthermodynamics；鈥潯ut for reasons that defy speculation gibbs chose to publish theselandmark observations in the transactions of the connecticut academy of arts and sciences；a journal that managed to be obscure even in connecticut； which is why planck did not hearof him until too late。
undaunted鈥攚ell； perhaps mildly daunted鈥攑lanck turned to other matters。
2we shall turnto these ourselves in a moment； but first we must make a slight （but relevant！） detour tocleveland； ohio； and an institution then known as the case school of applied science。 there；in the 1880s； a physicist of early middle years named albert michelson； assisted by his friendthe chemist edward morley； embarked on a series of experiments that produced curious anddisturbing results that would have great ramifications for much of what followed。
what michelson and morley did； without actually intending to； was undermine alongstanding belief in something called the luminiferous ether； a stable； invisible； weightless；frictionless； and unfortunately wholly imaginary medium that was thought to permeate theuniverse。 conceived by descartes； embraced by newton； and venerated by nearly everyoneever since； the ether held a position of absolute centrality in nineteenth…century physics as away of explaining how light traveled across the emptiness of space。 it was especially neededin the 1800s because light and electromagnetism were now seen as waves； which is to saytypes of vibrations。 vibrations must occur in something； hence the need for； and lastin