Josiah Willard Gibbs
Josiah Willard Gibbs (11 February 1839 – 28 April 1903) was an American physicist, chemist and mathematician at Yale University who created the theory of chemical thermodynamics, introducing the chemical potential, the free energy now named after him and the phase rule, and who gave statistical mechanics its modern ensemble formulation in 1902; he also co-founded modern vector analysis.
Major contributions
- Extended thermodynamics to mixtures and chemical reactions in “On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances” (1875–1878), introducing the chemical potential μ and the conditions for phase and chemical equilibrium
- Introduced the free energy G = H − TS (Gibbs free energy), whose decrease at constant temperature and pressure determines whether a process is spontaneous (see Enthalpy and Entropy)
- Derived the phase rule F = C − P + 2, relating degrees of freedom, components and phases
- Developed geometric methods (thermodynamic surfaces) admired and modelled in plaster by Maxwell
- Formulated statistical mechanics in terms of the microcanonical, canonical and grand canonical ensembles and the Gibbs entropy −k Σ p ln p (1902), and identified the Gibbs paradox
- Developed vector analysis in its modern form (with Oliver Heaviside, independently), simplifying the notation of Maxwell's equations
Named concepts
| Concept | Statement | Codex page |
|---|---|---|
| Gibbs free energy | G = H − TS; minimised at equilibrium (constant T, p) | View entry |
| Gibbs phase rule | F = C − P + 2 | View entry |
| Gibbs entropy | S = −kB Σ pi ln pi | View entry |
Career
Gibbs was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and spent nearly his whole life there. In 1863 he received from Yale the first doctorate in engineering awarded in the United States, for a thesis on the design of gears. After three years in Paris, Berlin and Heidelberg (1866–1869), he became professor of mathematical physics at Yale in 1871, initially without salary, a position he held until his death.
His major thermodynamic papers appeared in the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, a little-read journal, and their terse, mathematical style limited their early influence. They became widely known in Europe after translations by Wilhelm Ostwald (German, 1892) and Henri Le Chatelier (French, 1899). His 1902 book Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics gave the field its name and modern structure.
Key publications
- Gibbs, J.W. (1875–1878). “On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances.” Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 3, 108–248, 343–524.
- Gibbs, J.W. (1902). Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics. New York: Scribner's.
- Gibbs, J.W., Wilson, E.B. (1901). Vector Analysis. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Nobel Prize
Gibbs never received a Nobel Prize; he died in 1903, two years after the first prizes were awarded. He received the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1901, then regarded as the highest international honour in science.
Historical context
Gibbs's work completed the classical thermodynamics begun by Carnot, Clausius and Kelvin, and gave chemistry the tools to predict reaction equilibria, phase diagrams and electrochemical cell voltages. His statistical mechanics, together with Boltzmann's, carried over almost unchanged into quantum statistical mechanics. Einstein called him the greatest mind in American history, according to later recollection; such remarks are secondhand and are recorded here as reported, not verified.
Sources
- Gibbs, J.W. (1876, 1878). Transactions of the Connecticut Academy, 3, 108–248, 343–524.
- Wheeler, L.P. (1951). Josiah Willard Gibbs: The History of a Great Mind. Yale University Press.
- Gibbs, J.W. (1902). Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics. Scribner's.