History of thermodynamics

thumb|An illustration of Hero's aeolipile An aeolipile, aeolipyle, or eolipile, also known as a '''Hero's (or Heron's) engine', is a simple, bladeless radial steam turbine which spins when the central water container is heated. Torque is produced by steam jets exiting the turbine. The Greek-Egyptian mathematician and engineer Hero of Alexandria described the device in the 1st century AD, and many sources give him the credit for its invention. However, Vitruvius was the first to describe this appliance in his De architectura'' ().

scientific law describing ideal gases

obsolete scientific theory of heat flow

amount of work done to produce a unit quantity of heat

physical quantity, historically invented by G. Leibniz, equivalent to (in modern terminology) twice the kinetic energy

aspect of history

article on the history of the scientific concept of entropy

dates at least back to the Middle Ages

Series of authoritative reference works in the history of science, written by E. T. Whittaker