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Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire: And Other Papers on the Second Law of Thermodynamics (Dover Books on Physics)

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This book contains three classic papers about the founding of thermodynamics.

Sadi Carnot, a French physicist who founded the science of thermodynamics, published his classic work, "Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat," in 1824. Carnot reviewed the industrial, political and economic impact and importance of the steam engine invented by James Watt. In this paper, Carnot evaluated the efficiency of steam engines and sought a theory based on known principles that could be applied to all engines. Carnot concluded that "no engine operating between two heat reservoirs can be more efficient than a Carnot engine operating between the same reservoirs", a statement now known as Carnot's theorem.

Emile Cladeyron, "Memoir on the Motive Power of Heat," 1834, expanded and developed the concepts introduced by Sadi Carnot.

Rudolf Clausius, a German theoretical physicist, "On the Motive Power of Heat and one the laws which can be deduced from it for the theory of heat," 1850, formalized the second law of thermodynamics and introduced the concept the entropy, based partially on the work of Sadi Carnot and Caldeyron.

Carnot was one of the original, original thinkers. His work gave birth to modern day thermodynamics. Sadi Carnot is one of the giants on whose shoulders we stand.