RESEARCH INTO THE ORIGINS OF ENGINEERING THERMODYNAMICS (original) (raw)

This paper draws attention to a series of misconceptions and misstatements regarding the origin and meaning of some of the most basic concepts of engineering thermodynamics. The six examples exhibited in the paper relate to the concepts of reversibility, entropy, mechanical equivalent of the calorie, the first law of thermodynamics for open systems, enthalpy and the Diesel cycle. A complete list of the pioneering references concludes the paper. Obiective The discipline of Engineering Thermodynamics revolves around a relatively large number of good introductory treatments, which-in my view-are all very similar except for certain variations in writing style and graphics quality. It would seem that for generation after generation Engineering Thermodynamics has flowed from one book into the next, essentially unchanged. Today the textbooks describe a seemingly moribund engineering discipline, that is, a subject void of controversy and, most regrettably, references. As students, we are brought in contact with a discipline whose step-by-step innovations seem to have been long forgotten. Traveling back in time to "rediscover" the origins of the discipline is a task tackled only by a curious few. This situation presents a tremendous opportunity for the researcher. I recognized this opportunity four years ago when I began work on a graduate treatise on engineering thermodynamics [1]. In the course of that work I made numerous trips to the Library of Congress, in Washington, DC, where many of the original writings can be located. The many facts and references I discovered are 571