Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann, a brilliant physicist, was called "The Father of Statistical Mechanics," the science which became the foundation of quantum mechanics. Boltzmann applied the laws of mechanics to describe the random motion of molecules (atoms) and its effects on the physical proper ties of matter. His statistical analysis included the kinetic-molecular theory of gases and thermodynamics, the nature of heat and its conversion into other forms of energy. He also described mathematically the principle of blackbody, an ide al substance that absorbs all radiant energy that strikes it and reflects none. So radical and complicated were his hypotheses that many other scientists violently disputed them. Suffering serious illness, a depressive disorder, and perhaps feeling hopeless that his scientific endeavors would never be recognized or understood, he committed suicide just before his theories were proven.
Boltzmann, whose father was a tax official, was born on February 20, 1844 in Vienna, Austria. He received his doctorate from the University of Vienna in 1866, choosing for his thesis the kinetic theory of gases. This theory explains the physical action of gases by assuming that the extremely minute particles (molecules) of which any gas is c omposed, are also extremely far apart in relation to their size. The only time they affect each other (exert a force) is during a "rare, perfectly elastic collision." The application of the laws of mechanics applied to the behavior of gas in this "ideal state," establishes "gas laws." Pressure is then the collision of large numbers of molecules against the walls of the container in which the gas is held.
After graduating, Boltzmann first became assistant to his instructor, Josef Stefan (1869-1893), then taught at the University of Graz before moving first to Heidelberg and then Berlin. In 1869 he became chair of theoretical physics at Graz, retaining the post for four years before becoming chair of mathematics at Vienna. Once again, he retur ned to Graz as chair of experimental physics only to return in 1894 to Vienna as chair of theoretical physics.
A year later, Ernest Mach became chair of history and philosophy of science at Vienna. The two clashed badly, not just differing in scientific philosophy, but personally as well. Boltzmann moved to Leipzig in 1900 where he began working with Wilhelm Oswald (1853-1932), one of his most adamant opponents. On good terms personally, their scientific arguments apparently led Boltzmann to an unsuccessful suicide attempt. When Mach retired from Vienna because of ill health in 1901, Boltzmann returned to Vienna in 1902 to assume the still vacant position of chair of theoretical physics. Here, he taught mathematical physics, and was also given the philo sophy class of his old opponent, Mach. His lectures became so popular that his audience grew too large for the lecture hall.
Boltzmann's work continued to receive severe opposition from many contemporaries, however. The difference in their analytical processes has been likened to a "scientific war between the atomists (those who based their calculations on the movement of atoms) and the energists (who declared all physical science was based on energy only)." Boltz mann was one of the first European physicists to understand the importance of a theory of electromagnetics proposed by England's James Maxwell. He also derived a hypothesis known as the Maxwell-Boltzmann kinetic theory of gases, which simplistically states that the average amount of energy used for each different direction in which an atom moves is exactly the same. It involved the statistical probability theory, that temperature and heat involved only molecular movement and that molecules at high temperature have only a high probability of moving toward those at low temperature. This flew in the face of the f irmly-held concept of certainty, heat flowing from hot to cold.
Boltzmann published a series of papers in 1870 in which he declared that the laws of mechanics and the probability theory, which explains and predicts how the properties of atoms (mass, charge, and structure), could be successfully applied to determine the visible properties of matter (viscosityphasis>, thermal conductivity, and diffusion).
In 1904, Boltzmann travelled to the United States to attend the World's Fair in St. Louis. He lectured on applied mathematics and visited Berkeley and Stanford where he saw new discoveries being made in relation to radiation. Tragically, he did not understand these discoveries would ultimately prove his theories to a doubting scientific community. He continued on, however, attempting to explain in Populäre Schiriften in 1905 how the physical world could be adequately described by equations yet fail to describe the underlying atomic structure. He wrote, "May I be excused for saying with banality that the forest hides the trees for those who think that they disengage themselves from atomistics by the consideration of differential equations."
Suffering throughout life from severe mood swings, Boltzmann's depression had a negative impact upon his professional and personal relationships. Continuing to undergo attacks upon his work, and suffering from depression and failing health, Boltzmann hanged himself on October 5, 1906 while on vacation with his wife and daughter at the Bay of Duino near Trieste. Shortly thereafter, his mathematical interpretation of the atomic world would be confirmed and the foundation laid for quantum mechanics.
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