History of Physics by Areas

Classical Mechanics > s.a. chaos; hamiltonian and lagrangian dyamics; special relativity.
* Earliest developments: The earliest known ancient Greek text on mechanics is the pseudo-Aristotelian Mechanical Problems, probably written by an early Peripatetic.
* First period: Qualitative investigations, until Kepler & Galileo; Galileo's experiments with dropping bodies were preceded by those described in 1544 by the historian Benedetto Varchi and those reported in 1576 by Giuseppe Moletti, Galileo's predecessor in Padova.
* Second period: Quantitative theory (1687–1889), Newton, Euler, Lagrange, Laplace, Hamilton, Jacobi; Especially celestial mechanics, formalized in the many-body problem; Stability? [@ Moulton 02; Dugas 55]; From Newton onwards, purely mechanical models until Maxwell and electromagnetic theory (ether persisted).
* Third period: Neo-qualitative theory (1889–present), resurrection of geometrical point of view and use of manifolds (as opposed to Euclidean space), differential topology (as opposed to analytic methods), new questions (structural stability); Started with Poincaré, but needed intrinsic calculus by Cartan for full development, Birkhoff, Moser.
@ General references: Bailey FP(83) [least action], FP(02) [Lagrangian and Hamiltonian]; Segrè 84; Fabrikant SPU(91) [acceleration]; Charap ht/93-conf [analytical mechanics]; Crowe 07 [Aristotle to Einstein]; Coxhead SHPSA(12) [pseudo-Aristotelian Mechanical Problems]; Nolte 18 [I].
@ Specific topics: Nolte PT(10)apr [phase space]; Esposito & Schettino a1204 [acceptance of Newton's science, and Atwood's machine]; Graney a1204 [Riccioli's attempts to disprove Galileo's ideas, and confirmation]; Rojo & Bloch 17 [least action]; Yamamoto 18 [force, gravity and magnetism]; news sn(20)nov [known copies of Principia 1st edition]; > s.a. Pendulum.
> Specific topics: see clocks; constrained systems; momentum; Perpetual Motion Devices.

Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics > s.a. critical phenomena; Kinetic Theory; heat; statistical mechanics; temperature; thermodynamics.
* XIX century: With the advent of steam engines came the first developments by Black, Carnot, Clausius, Boltzmann, Gibbs, et al, as a way of understanding and maximizing engine efficiency; 1842, First law formulated by Robert Mayer; 1843–1849, Experiments on energy and heat by Robert Joule; 1850, Second law formulated by Clausius and by Lord Kelvin; The subject became more fundamental with Boltzmann and kinetic theory; 1950s, Jacques Yvon's work on output power limitation (Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency); 1970s, Finite-time thermodynamics.
* XX century: Brussels School, self-organization paradigm, and non-equilibrium thermodynamics; "The first systematic and contradiction-free formulation was given by Carathéodory".
* 2000: It is still a forefront discipline; One of its new uses is to maximize information flow in computers.
@ Entropy: Cohen a0807-conf [entropy, probabilistic vs dynamical interpretation]; Jacobson a1810-in [including black-hole enropy].
@ Thermodynamics, other: Truesdell 80; Kox SHPMP(06) [third law, Nernst's heat theorem and Einstein]; Lemos & Penner AJP(08)jan [Sadi Carnot and the second law]; Newburgh EJP(09) [from Carnot's caloric to Clausius' entropy]; Starikov a1110 [George Augustus Linhart]; Sparavigna IJSci(13)-a1301 [Robert Grosseteste, the four classical elements and phase transitions]; Ouerdane et al EPJST(15)-a1411 [laws, efficiencies, finite-time thermodynamics]; Sauer EPJst(17)-a1612 [Ehrenfest classification of phase transitions]; Piazza a1807 [the Dulong-Petit law].
@ Boltzmann: Goldstein LNP(01)cm; Crease pw(06)sep; Gyftopoulos a0710; Brown & Myrvold a0809 [H-theorem]; Swendsen PhyA(10) [definition of entropy]; Boltzmann a1906 [concept of statistical ensemble, ergodicity; translation].
@ Gibbs: Mehra FP(98) [and foundations]; Kadanoff JSP(14)-a1403-talk; Phillies a1706 [reading his Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics].
@ Statistical mechanics, other: Brush 83; Dresden PT(88)sep; Parisi cm/01-conf [Planck]; Cercignani LNP(01); Viscardy cm/06/SHPMP [non-equilibrium]; Kadanoff JSP(09)-a0906 [phase transitions and mean-field theory]; Narasimhan PT(09)jul [diffusion]; Andersen & Chandler PNAS(14)-a1407 [Robert W Zwanzig]; Peliti & Rechtman JSP(16)-a1606 [Einstein's approach]; Lebowitz & Bonolis EPJH(17)-a1702 [Joel Lebowitz]; > s.a. ising model; montecarlo method.

Other Areas of Physics > s.a. brownian motion; physics teaching.
* Electromagnetism: The first observations were probably made by Thales of Miletus (600 BC) on rubbing; Ideas were confused until the end of the XVIII century, with Cavendish & Coulomb (analogous figure to Newton for gravity); 1820, Electromagnetism discovered and first electrodynamic theory proposed, then developed quickly until final form by Maxwell; Convention on + and − charges chosen by B Franklin; Hertz's experiments lead to acceptance of Maxwell's theory (over Helmholtz's).
* Atomic physics: 1860, Lord Kelvin and others proposed that atoms consist of vortices spinning in the ether; 1921, Reputable physicists (including Joseph Larmor) still supported theories of atoms without quantum theory.
@ Atomic physics: Brush 83; Nye 84; Boorse et al 89; Keve 00 [historical novel]; Lindley 01 [Boltzmann]; Irons AJP(01)aug [Poincaré 1911–1912]; Di Grezia & Esposito FP(04)phy [Thomas-Fermi statistical model & Majorana]; Bernstein AJP(06)oct [Brown, Boltzmann, Bachelier, Einstein]; Wilholt SHPMP(08) [XIX-century debates and realism]; Haroche PRL(08) [50 years of atomic, molecular and optical physics]; Toennies et al AdP(11)-a1109 [experimental, Otto Stern (1888-1969)]; Baily a1111-wd [models, 1904-1913]; Kragh & Nielsen a1112 [Bohr model, popularization]; Kragh a1112/BHC [Lars Vegard, first proposal of electron configurations for atoms, based on planar electron rings]; Baily EPJH(12)-a1208 [early atomic models, 1904-1913]; Demopoulos et al SHPMP(12) [Poincaré's 1912 essay]; Pérez & Pié a1502-proc [quantum mechanics and the atomistic hypothesis]; Bose CS-a1503 [atomic hypothesis]; in Clarke Isis(15) [modern physics and Hargreaves's 1921 paper]; > s.a. Stark Effect.
@ Magnetism: Verschuur 93; Elliott PhyA(07); Sparavigna MMSE-a1512 [Petrus Peregrinus of Maricourt and medieval knowledge of magnetism]; Singh a1807.
@ Electromagnetism: Buchwald 85; Hendry 86 [Maxwell]; Kargon & Achinstein ed-87; Whittaker 87; Buchwald 89 [light]; Buchwald 94 [waves]; Dusek 99 [influence of holistic philosophies]; Darrigol 01 [Ampère to Einstein]; Jackson & Okun RMP(01)phy/00; Smirnov-Rueda FP(05)phy [Hert'z experiments]; Hehl AdP(08)-a0807 [Minkowski's form of the Maxwell equations]; Mamone Capria & Manini a1111 [unification of electricity and magnetism]; Darrigol 12 [optics]; Rautio ieee(14)dec; Kragh a1606 [Ludvig Lorenz]; Falconer SHPSA(17)-a1608 [Maxwell and Cavendish's null experiment]; Sparavigna a1609 [Vito Volterra's commemoration of Faraday]; Kragh a1803 [1867 Lorenz paper]; Natiello & Solari a1910 [and historical context]; Giuliani a2102 [electromagnetic induction]; > s.a. XIX-century physics; electromagnetic fields; light; Lorentz Force.
@ Theoretical physics: Kline 85; Jungnickel & McCormmach 86; Schweber HSPS(86); White AS(12)#3 [William Herschel's discovery of infrared radiation].
@ Solid state and technology: Eckert & Schubert 89; Hoddeson et al 92; Cahn 01 [materials science]; Gonzalo & Aragó López 03 [solid state]; Bethe & Mermin PT(04)jun [solid state and quantum mechanics].
@ Condensed matter: news Guard(15)may [soft matter]; Martin AJP(17)feb, PT(19)jan [in late 20th-century physics].
@ Fluid dynamics: Darrigol HSPBS(98) [Helmholtz]; Grimberg et al PhyD(08)-a0801 [d'Alembert's paradox and drag force]; Bistafa a1902 [Daniel Bernoulli's experiments]; > s.a. Superfluids.
Other areas: see astronomy and astrophysics; molecular, quantum, and nuclear physics; history of particle physics; history of relativistic gravity.

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