Pièce 7 - Letter from James Swinburne to W. Craig Henderson

2 folded sheets

41 Palace Court, (London).—Explains how his ideas on entropy differ from those of other physicists.

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Transcript

41 Palace Court
15/2/3

Dear Mr. Henderson,—Many thanks for proof {1}. My only fear in suggesting any alterations is that I may be unfair to Lodge or Perry.

The difference between Lodge & me is very much more fundamental than your article says. Lodge seems to think increase of total entropy is never caused except by transfer of heat between bodies of different temperature. Perry, as far as I can gather his views from his letters thinks the same, & they both think that when gas is expanded into a vacuum the increase of entropy is due to subsequent equalisation of temperature. I have had a good deal of correspondence with Lodge privately. I find there is also ambiguity about what Η & Θ refer to. I have put my notions in last weeks Electrician. Bryan in a letter says he doesn’t know what the books mean by Η & Θ, & doesn’t believe the authors know either.

I think thermodynamics wants complete overhauling. The smaller men merely copy the au-thorities blindly, & the big people never explain what they mean. Bryan is about as good a “thermodynamician” as there is, & if he privately admits that his ideas are not clear there is something wrong. I think there is far too much ‘blind mathematics’ in our days.

I have not criticised books on thermodynamics, only on steam engines & Φ {2} diagrams & math. Physics. But we have no decent books on thermodynamics. Preston {3} I have only seen, but I don’t think he is at all clear. Though he may discuss irreversible processes I think his only idea of increase of entropy was by transfer of heat. A pupil of his who is v. good at T. Dynamics tells me Preston never really understood entropy; & I have a 2nd hand book which belonged to Preston with pencil notes, showing the same thing!

Ofcourse† all this is not for publication.

Yours faithfully
J Swinburne

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{1} Not identified.

{2} ‘& Φ’ is the apparent reading, but the meaning is unclear.

{3} The Theory of Heat, by Thomas Preston (1894).

† Sic.

Formerly kept in the same envelope as Add. MS a. 666/8.

This description was created by A. C. Green in May 2022.