The Two Principal Laws of Thermodynamics: A Cultural and Historical Exploration

Note: hardcover version of this book is out of print, but the paperback version is available here. Published in 2004 | 134 pages | cloth | ISBN: 978-0-8207-0354-1 Reviews: “The historical phenomenology of van den Berg pursues this same philosophical theme of letting things speak for themselves, while exploring past worlds and seeking to make them relevant to our present conditions. . . . His narrative thus creates a space and time within the lived world where scientific discoveries can find their place among other cultural phenomena in the way they are made manifest in the worlds of art, fashion, politics, and economics.” — Journal of Phenomenological Psychology Book Information: In the first two chapters, van den Berg deals with the discovery of the first main law by Count Rumford and with the rediscovery of this law by Julius Mayer. Contributions made by Carnot, Clausius and Lord Kelvin in discovering the second main law are treated in the third chapter. Perhaps most interestingly, t