Sunday Morning Thermodynamics

By Adam Frank

Published May 27, 2012 at 10:01 AM CDT

Sunday morning and a young man's thoughts turn to the paper, a mountain bike ride and — of course — thermodynamics.

From Peter Atkins and his The Laws of Thermodynamics. A Very Short Introduction:

"In everyday language heat is both a noun and a verb. Heat flows, we heat. In thermodynamics heat is not an entity or even a form of energy: heat is a mode of energy transfer Heat is the transfer of energy by virtue of a temperature difference. Heat is the name of a process, not the name of an entity."

Take that, common usage!

Science & Health

Adam Frank

Adam Frank was a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture. A professor at the University of Rochester, Frank is a theoretical/computational astrophysicist and currently heads a research group developing supercomputer code to study the formation and death of stars. Frank's research has also explored the evolution of newly born planets and the structure of clouds in the interstellar medium. Recently, he has begun work in the fields of astrobiology and network theory/data science. Frank also holds a joint appointment at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, a Department of Energy fusion lab.

See stories by Adam Frank

Sunday Morning Thermodynamics

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