Ludwig Boltzmann

Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (February 20, 1844 – September 5, 1906) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher whose greatest achievement was in the development of statistical mechanics, which explains and predicts how the properties of atoms (such as mass, charge, and structure) determine the physical properties of matter (such as viscosity, thermal conductivity, and diffusion).

Biography

Childhood and education

Boltzmann was born in Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire. His father, Ludwig Georg Boltzmann, was a revenue official. His grandfather, who had moved to Vienna from Berlin, was a clock manufacturer, and Boltzmann's mother, Katharina Pauernfeind, was originally from Salzburg. He received his primary education from a private tutor at the home of his parents. Boltzmann attended high school in Linz, Upper Austria. When Boltzmann was 15, his father died.

Boltzmann studied physics at the University of Vienna, starting in 1863. Among his teachers were Josef Loschmidt, Joseph Stefan, Andreas von Ettingshausen and Jozef Petzval. Boltzmann received his PhD degree in 1866 working under the supervision of Stefan; his dissertation was on kinetic theory of gases. In 1867 he became a Privatdozent (lecturer). After obtaining his doctorate degree, Boltzmann worked two more years as Stefan's assistant. It was Stefan who introduced Boltzmann to Maxwell's work.

Boltzmann (disambiguation)

Ludwig Boltzmann was an Austrian physicist famous for his founding contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics.

Boltzmann may also refer to:

Boltzmann (crater)

Boltzmann is an old lunar crater that is located along the southern limb of the Moon, in the vicinity of the south pole. At this location the crater is viewed from the side from Earth, and so not much detail can be seen. It is located to the north of the walled plain Drygalski, and to the west of the crater Le Gentil.

This formation has become eroded by many tiny impacts, leaving the features rounded and worn. Little of the original rim still stands above the surrounding terrain, leaving only a depression in the surface. The interior is relatively flat, with a rougher surface in the eastern half. There are several tiny craterlets on the crater interior, including a pair near the southwest inner wall and a small, bowl-shaped crater close to the eastern rim. Offset slightly to the northeast of the midpoint of the floor is a low central peak, now little more than a rounded hill.

To the southeast of the crater rim is an arcing catena formation of tiny craterlets that joins the rim of Boltzmann to the northern rim of Drygalski.