Bøker av Olivier (Research Director Darrigol

A study of Ludwig Boltzmann's oeuvre in early statistical mechanics. It is designed to reveal Boltzmann's true endeavors and to give new life to his various theoretical constructions. It offers introductory historical and biographical materials, detailed summaries and analyses of all the relevant texts.

This book recounts a few ingenious attempts to derive physical theories by reason only, beginning with Descartes' geometric construction of the world, and finishing with recent derivations of quantum mechanics from natural axioms.