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w 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。 meanwhile； the michelson…morley experiments would hover unpleasantly； like a mustysmell； in the backgrou