Thermodynamics

Quotes & humor

• A common scientific joke, as stated by C.P. Snow, expresses the four laws simply and surprisingly accurately as:

Zeroth: "You must play the game."

First: "You can't win."

Second: "You can't break even."

Third: "You can't quit the game."

• Attributed to Arnold Sommerfeld:

"Thermodynamics is a funny subject. The first time you go through it, you don't understand it at all. The second time you go through it, you think you understand it, except for one or two small points. The third time you go through it, you know you don't understand it, but by that time you are so used to it, it doesn't bother you any more."

• The British duo Flanders and Swann wrote a comic song (possibly the comic song) about the First and Second laws, called simply "First and Second Law"

Related branches

Atmospheric thermodynamics Biological thermodynamics Black hole thermodynamics Chemical thermodynamics Classical thermodynamics Equilibrium thermodynamics

Non-equilibrium thermodynamics Phenomenological thermodynamics Psychodynamics Quantum thermodynamics Statistical thermodynamics Thermoeconomics

Lists and timelines

• History of thermodynamics
• List of important publications in thermodynamics
• List of notable textbooks in statistical mechanics
• Timeline of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and random processes
• Parmenides' influence on the development of thermodynamics

Other

Calorimetry Debye-Hückel equation Fluid dynamics Legendre transformation Onsager reciprocal relations Phase equilibrium

Philosophy of thermal and statistical physics Statistical mechanics Thermal analysis Thermodynamic equations Thermodynamic properties

Wikibooks

• Engineering Thermodynamics