A Short History of Nearly Everything-第22章

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the　nineteenth　century　drew　to　a　close；　scientists　could　reflect　with　satisfaction　thatthey　had　pinned　down　most　of　the　mysteries　of　the　physical　world：　electricity；　magnetism；gases；　optics；　acoustics；　kinetics；　and　statistical　mechanics；　to　name　just　a　few；　all　had　falleninto　order　before　them。　they　had　discovered　the　x　ray；　the　cathode　ray；　the　electron；　andradioactivity；　invented　the　ohm；　the　watt；　the　kelvin；　the　joule；　the　amp；　and　the　little　erg。

if　a　thing　could　be　oscillated；　accelerated；　perturbed；　distilled；　bined；　weighed；　or　madegaseous　they　had　done　it；　and　in　the　process　produced　a　body　of　universal　laws　so　weightyand　majestic　that　we　still　tend　to　write　them　out　in　capitals：　the　electromagnetic　field　theoryof　light；　richter’s　law　of　reciprocal　proportions；　charles’s　law　of　gases；　the　law　ofbining　volumes；　the　zeroth　law；　the　valence　concept；　the　laws　of　mass　actions；　andothers　beyond　counting。　the　whole　world　clanged　and　chuffed　with　the　machinery　andinstruments　that　their　ingenuity　had　produced。　many　wise　people　believed　that　there　wasnothing　much　left　for　science　to　do。

in　1875；　when　a　young　german　in　kiel　named　max　planck　was　deciding　whether　to　devotehis　life　to　mathematics　or　to　physics；　he　was　urged　most　heartily　not　to　choose　physicsbecause　the　breakthroughs　had　all　been　made　there。　the　ing　century；　he　was　assured；would　be　one　of　consolidation　and　refinement；　not　revolution。　planck　didn’t　listen。　he　studiedtheoretical　physics　and　threw　himself　body　and　soul　into　work　on　entropy；　a　process　at　theheart　of　thermodynamics；　which　seemed　to　hold　much　promise　for　an　ambitious　young　man。

1in　1891　he　produced　his　results　and　learned　to　his　dismay　that　the　important　work　on　entropyhad　in　fact　been　done　already；　in　this　instance　by　a　retiring　scholar　at　yale　university　namedj。　willard　gibbs。

gibbs　is　perhaps　the　most　brilliant　person　that　most　people　have　never　heard　of。　modest　tothe　point　of　near　invisibility；　he　passed　virtually　the　whole　of　his　life；　apart　from　three　yearsspent　studying　in　europe；　within　a　three…block　area　bounded　by　his　house　and　the　yalecampus　in　new　haven；　connecticut。　for　his　first　ten　years　at　yale　he　didn’t　even　bother　todraw　a　salary。　（he　had　independent　means。）　from　1871；　when　he　joined　the　university　as　aprofessor；　to　his　death　in　1903；　his　courses　attracted　an　average　of　slightly　over　one　student　asemester。　his　written　work　was　difficult　to　follow　and　employed　a　private　form　of　notationthat　many　found　inprehensible。　but　buried　among　his　arcane　formulations　were　insightsof　the　loftiest　brilliance。

in　1875–78；　gibbs　produced　a　series　of　papers；　collectively　titledon　the　equilibrium　ofheterogeneous　substances　；　that　dazzlingly　elucidated　the　thermodynamic　principles　of；　well；1specifically　it　is　a　measure　of　randomness　or　disorder　in　a　system。　darrell　ebbing；　in　the　textbook　generalchemistry；　very　usefully　suggests　thinking　of　a　deck　of　cards。　a　new　pack　fresh　out　of　the　box；　arranged　by　suitand　in　sequence　from　ace　to　king；　can　be　said　to　be　in　its　ordered　state。　shuffle　the　cards　and　you　put　them　in　adisordered　state。　entropy　is　a　way　of　measuring　just　how　disordered　that　state　is　and　of　determining　thelikelihood　of　particular　outes　with　further　shuffles。　of　course；　if　you　wish　to　have　any　observationspublished　in　a　respectable　journal　you　will　need　also　to　understand　additional　concepts　such　as　thermalnonuniformities；　lattice　distances；　and　stoichiometric　relationships；　but　thats　the　general　idea。

nearly　everything—“gases；　mixtures；　surfaces；　solids；　phase　changes　。　。　。　chemical　reactions；electrochemical　cells；　sedimentation；　and　osmosis；”　to　quote　william　h。　cropper。　in　essencewhat　gibbs　did　was　show　that　thermodynamics　didn’t　apply　simply　to　heat　and　energy　at　thesort　of　large　and　noisy　scale　of　the　steam　engine；　but　was　also　present　and　influential　at　theatomic　level　of　chemical　reactions。　gibbs’s　equilibrium　has　been　called　“the　principia　ofthermodynamics；”　but　for　reasons　that　defy　speculation　gibbs　chose　to　publish　theselandmark　observations　in　the　transactions　of　the　connecticut　academy　of　arts　and　sciences；a　journal　that　managed　to　be　obscure　even　in　connecticut；　which　is　why　planck　did　not　hearof　him　until　too　late。

undaunted—well；　perhaps　mildly　daunted—planck　turned　to　other　matters。

2we　shall　turnto　these　ourselves　in　a　moment；　but　first　we　must　make　a　slight　（but　relevant！）　detour　tocleveland；　ohio；　and　an　institution　then　known　as　the　case　school　of　applied　science。　there；in　the　1880s；　a　physicist　of　early　middle　years　named　albert　michelson；　assisted　by　his　friendthe　chemist　edward　morley；　embarked　on　a　series　of　experiments　that　produced　curious　anddisturbing　results　that　would　have　great　ramifications　for　much　of　what　followed。

what　michelson　and　morley　did；　without　actually　intending　to；　was　undermine　alongstanding　belief　in　something　called　the　luminiferous　ether；　a　stable；　invisible；　weightless；frictionless；　and　unfortunately　wholly　imaginary　medium　that　was　thought　to　permeate　theuniverse。　conceived　by　descartes；　embraced　by　newton；　and　venerated　by　nearly　everyoneever　since；　the　ether　held　a　position　of　absolute　centrality　in　nineteenth…century　physics　as　away　of　explaining　how　light　traveled　across　the　emptiness　of　space。　it　was　especially　neededin　the　1800s　because　light　and　electromagnetism　were　now　seen　as　waves；　which　is　to　saytypes　of　vibrations。　vibrations　must　occur　in　something；　hence　the　need　for；　and　lastingdevotion　to；　an　ether。　as　late　as　1909；　the　great　british　physicist　j。　j。　thomson　was　insisting：

“the　ether　is　not　a　fantastic　creation　of　the　speculative　philosopher；　it　is　as　essential　to　us　asthe　air　we　breathe”—this　more　than　four　years　after　it　was　pretty　incontestably　establishedthat　it　didn’t　exist。　people；　in　short；　were　really　attached　to　the　ether。

if　you　needed　to　illustrate　the　idea　of　nineteenth…century　america　as　a　land　of　opportunity；you　could　hardly　improve　on　the　life　of　albert　michelson。　born　in　1852　on　the　german–polish　border　to　a　family　of　poor　jewish　merchants；　he　came　to　the　united　states　with　hisfamily　as　an　infant　and　grew　up　in　a　mining　camp　in　california’s　gold　rush　country；　where　hisfather　ran　a　dry　goods　business。　too　poor　to　pay　for　college；　he　traveled　to　washington；　d。c。；and　took　to　loitering　by　the　front　door　of　the　white　house　so　that　he　could　fall　in　besidepresident　ulysses　s。　grant　when　the　president　emerged　for　his　daily　constitutional。　（it　wasclearly　a　more　innocent　age。）　in　the　course　of　these　walks；　michelson　so　ingratiated　himself　tothe　president　that　grant　agreed　to　secure　for　him　a　free　place　at　the　u。s。　naval　academy。　itwas　there　that　michelson　learned　his　physics。

ten　years　later；　by　now　a　professor　at　the　case　school　in　cleveland；　michelson　becameinterested　in　trying　to　measure　something　called　the　ether　drift—a　kind　of　head　windproduced　by　moving　objects　as　they　plowed　through　space。　one　of　the　predictions　ofnewtonian　physics　was　that　the　speed　of　light　as　it　pushed　through　the　ether　should　vary　with2planck　was　often　unlucky　in　life。　his　beloved　first　wife　died　early；　in　1909；　and　the　younger　of　his　two　sonswas　killed　in　the　first　world　war。　he　also　had　twin　daughters　whom　he　adored。　one　died　giving　birth。　thesurviving　twin　went　to　look　after　the　baby　and　fell　in　love　with　her　sisters　husband。　they　married　and　two　yearslater　she　died　in　childbirth。　in　1944；　when　planck　was　eighty…five；　an　allied　bomb　fell　on　his　house　and　he　losteverything…papers；　diaries；　a　lifetime　of　accumulations。　the　following　year　his　surviving　son　was　caught　in　aconspiracy　to　assassinate　hitler　and　executed。

respect　to　an　observer　depending　on　whether　the　observer　was　moving　toward　the　source　oflight　or　away　from　it；　but　no　one　had　figured　out　a　way　to　measure　this。　it　occurred　tomichelson　that　for　half　the　year　the　earth　is　traveling　toward　the　sun　and　for　half　the　year　it　ismoving　away　from　it；　and　he　reasoned　that　if　you　took　careful　enough　measurements　atopposite　seasons　and　pared　light’s　travel　time　between　the　two；　you　would　have　youranswer。

michelson　talked　alexander　graham　bell；　newly　enriched　inventor　of　the　telephone；　intoproviding　the　funds　to　build　an　ingenious　and　sensitive　instrument　of　michelson’s　owndevising　called　an　interferometer；　which　could　measure　the　velocity　of　light　with　greatprecision。　then；　assisted　by　the　genial　but　shadowy　morley；　michelson　embarked　on　years　offastidious　measurements。　the　work　was　delicate　and　exhausting；　and　had　to　be　suspended　fora　time　to　permit　michelson　a　brief　but　prehensive　nervous　breakdown；　but　by　1887　theyhad　their　results。　they　were　not　at　all　what　the　two　scientists　had　expected　to　find。

as　caltech　astrophysicist　kip　s。　thorne　has　written：　“the　speed　of　light　turned　out　to　bethe　same　inall　directions　and　at　all　seasons。”　it　was　the　first　hint　in　two　hundred　years—inexactly　two　hundred　years；　in　fact—that　newton’s　laws　might　not　apply　all　the　timeeverywhere。　the　michelson…morley　oute　became；　in　the　words　of　william　h。　cropper；“probably　the　most　famous　negative　result　in　the　history　of　physics。”　michelson　was　awardeda　nobel　prize　in　physics　for　the　work—the　first　american　so　honored—but　not　for　twentyyears。　meanwh