Editing Timeline of thermodynamics

{{short description|None}}

{{More citations needed|date=August 2010}}
{{Thermodynamics|cTopic=History Culture}}
A [[chronology|timeline]] of events in the [[history of thermodynamics|history]] of [[thermodynamics]].

== Before 1800 ==
* 1593 – [[Galileo Galilei]] invents one of the first [[thermoscope]]s, also known as [[Galileo thermometer]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Who Gets Credit for Inventing the Thermometer? |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-the-thermometer-1992525 |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref>
* 1650&nbsp;– [[Otto von Guericke]] builds the first [[vacuum pump]]
* 1660&nbsp;– [[Robert Boyle]] experimentally discovers [[Boyle's law]], relating the pressure and volume of a gas (published 1662)<ref>In 1662, he published a second edition of the 1660 book ''New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, Touching the Spring of the Air, and its Effects'' with an addendum ''Whereunto is Added a Defence of the Authors Explication of the Experiments, Against the Obiections of Franciscus Linus and Thomas Hobbes''; see ''J Appl Physiol'' 98: 31–39, 2005. ([http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/98/1/31 Jap.physiology.org Online].)</ref>
* 1665&nbsp;– [[Robert Hooke]] published his book ''[[Micrographia]]'', which contained the statement: "Heat being nothing else but a very brisk and vehement agitation of the parts of a body."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hooke |first=Robert |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15491/15491-h/15491-h.htm |title=Micrographia: Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries Thereupon |publisher=Printed by Jo. Martyn, and Ja. Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society |year=1665 |pages=12 |postscript=. (Machine-readable, no pagination)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hooke |first=Robert |url=https://ttp.royalsociety.org/ttp/ttp.html?id=a9c4863d-db77-42d1-b294-fe66c85958b3&type=book |title=Micrographia: Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries Thereupon |publisher=Printed by Jo. Martyn, and Ja. Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society |year=1665 |pages=12 |postscript=. (Facsimile, with pagination)}}</ref>
* 1667&nbsp;– [[J. J. Becher]] puts forward a theory of [[combustion]] involving ''combustible earth'' in his book ''Physica subterranea''<ref>{{Cite book|last=Becher, Johann Joachim, 1635-1682.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/3425904|title=Physica subterranea profundam subterraneorum genesin, e principiis hucusque ignotis, ostendens|date=1738|publisher=Ex officina Weidmanniana|oclc=3425904}}</ref> (see [[Phlogiston theory]]).
* 1676–1689&nbsp;– [[Gottfried Leibniz]] develops the concept of ''[[vis viva]]'', a limited version of the [[conservation of energy]]
* 1679&nbsp;– [[Denis Papin]] designed a [[steam digester]] which inspired the development of the piston-and-cylinder steam engine.
* 1694–1734&nbsp;– [[Georg Ernst Stahl]] names Becher's combustible earth as [[phlogiston]] and develops the theory
* 1698&nbsp;– [[Thomas Savery]] patents an early steam engine<ref name=jenkins>{{cite book | last = Jenkins | first = Rhys | title = Links in the History of Engineering and Technology from Tudor Times | publisher = Ayer Publishing | year = 1936 | pages = 66 | isbn = 0-8369-2167-4}}</ref>
* 1702&nbsp;– [[Guillaume Amontons]] introduces the concept of [[absolute zero]], based on observations of [[gas]]es
* 1738&nbsp;– [[Daniel Bernoulli]] publishes ''[[Hydrodynamica]]'', initiating the [[kinetic theory of gases|kinetic theory]]
* 1749&nbsp;– [[Émilie du Châtelet]], in her French translation and commentary on [[Isaac Newton|Newton's]] ''[[Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica]]'', derives the [[conservation of energy]] from the first principles of Newtonian mechanics.
* 1761&nbsp;– [[Joseph Black]] discovers that ice absorbs heat without changing its temperature when melting
* 1772&nbsp;– Black's student [[Daniel Rutherford]] discovers [[nitrogen]],<ref>See:
* Daniel Rutherford (1772) [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxUUAAAAQAAJ "Dissertatio Inauguralis de aere fixo, aut mephitico"] (Inaugural dissertation on the air [called] fixed or mephitic), M.D. dissertation, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
* English translation:  Leonard Dobbin (1935) "Daniel Rutherford's inaugural dissertation," ''Journal of Chemical Education'', '''12''' (8) : 370–375.
* See also:  James R. Marshall and Virginia L. Marshall (Spring 2015) "Rediscovery of the Elements:  Daniel Rutherford, nitrogen, and the demise of phlogiston," ''The Hexagon'' (of [[Alpha Chi Sigma]]), '''106''' (1) : 4–8.  Available on-line at:  [https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc824866/m2/1/high_res_d/spring-2015-4-8.pdf University of North Texas].</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yS_m3PrVbpgC&pg=PR15|page=15|title=Elements of chemistry, in a new systematic order: containing all the modern discoveries|author=Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent|author-link=Antoine Lavoisier|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|year=1965|isbn=0-486-64624-6}}</ref> which he calls ''phlogisticated air'', and together they explain the results in terms of the [[phlogiston theory]]
* 1776&nbsp;– [[John Smeaton]] publishes a paper on [[experiment]]s related to [[power (physics)|power]], [[mechanical work|work]], [[momentum]], and [[kinetic energy]], supporting the conservation of energy
* 1777&nbsp;– [[Carl Wilhelm Scheele]] distinguishes [[heat transfer]] by [[thermal radiation]] from that by [[convection]] and [[heat conduction|conduction]]
* 1783&nbsp;– [[Antoine Lavoisier]] discovers [[oxygen]] and develops an explanation for combustion; in his paper "Réflexions sur le phlogistique", he deprecates the phlogiston theory and proposes a [[caloric theory]]
* 1784&nbsp;– [[Jan Ingenhousz]] describes [[Brownian motion]] of charcoal particles on water
* 1791&nbsp;– [[Pierre Prévost (physicist)|Pierre Prévost]] shows that all bodies radiate heat, no matter how hot or cold they are<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Prévost|first=Pierre|date=April 1791|title=Mémoire sur l'équilibre du feu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZLOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA314|journal=Observations Sur la Physique|language=fr|volume=XXXVIII|issue=1|pages=314–323}}</ref>
* 1798&nbsp;– Count Rumford ([[Benjamin Thompson]]) publishes his paper "[[An Inquiry Concerning the Source of the Heat Which Is Excited by Friction]]" detailing measurements of the [[friction]]al heat generated in [[Boring (manufacturing)|boring]] [[cannon]]s and develops the idea that heat is a form of [[kinetic energy]]; his measurements are inconsistent with caloric theory, but are also sufficiently imprecise as to leave room for doubt.

== 1800–1847 ==
* 1802&nbsp;– [[Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac]] publishes [[Charles's law]], discovered (but unpublished) by [[Jacques Charles]] around 1787; this shows the dependency between temperature and volume. Gay-Lussac also formulates the law relating temperature with pressure (the pressure law, or [[Gay-Lussac's law]])
* 1804&nbsp;– Sir [[John Leslie (physicist)|John Leslie]] observes that a matte black surface radiates heat more effectively than a polished surface, suggesting the importance of [[black-body radiation]]
* 1805&nbsp;– [[William Hyde Wollaston]] defends the conservation of energy in ''On the Force of Percussion''
* 1808&nbsp;– [[John Dalton]] defends caloric theory in ''A New System of Chemistry'' and describes how it combines with matter, especially [[gas]]es; he proposes that the [[heat capacity]] of gases varies inversely with [[atomic weight]]
* 1810&nbsp;– Sir John Leslie freezes water to ice artificially
* 1813&nbsp;– [[Peter Ewart]] supports the idea of the conservation of energy in his paper ''On the measure of moving force''; the paper strongly influences Dalton and his pupil, [[James Prescott Joule|James Joule]]
* 1819&nbsp;– [[Pierre Louis Dulong]] and [[Alexis Thérèse Petit]] give the [[Dulong-Petit law]] for the [[specific heat capacity]] of a [[crystal]]
* 1820&nbsp;– [[John Herapath]] develops some ideas in the kinetic theory of gases but mistakenly associates temperature with [[molecule|molecular]] [[momentum]] rather than [[kinetic energy]]; his work receives little attention other than from Joule
* 1822&nbsp;– [[Joseph Fourier]] formally introduces the use of [[dimension]]s for physical quantities in his ''Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur''
* 1822&nbsp;– [[Marc Seguin]] writes to [[John Herschel]] supporting the conservation of energy and kinetic theory
* 1824&nbsp;– [[Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot|Sadi Carnot]] analyzes the efficiency of [[steam engine]]s using [[caloric theory]]; he develops the notion of a [[reversible process (thermodynamics)|reversible process]] and, in postulating that no such thing exists in nature, lays the foundation for the [[second law of thermodynamics]], and initiating the science of thermodynamics
* 1827&nbsp;– [[Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose)|Robert Brown]] discovers the [[Brownian motion]] of [[pollen]] and dye particles in water <ref>{{Cite book|last=Brown, Robert, 1773-1858.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/38057036|title=A brief account of microscopical observations made in the months of June, July, and August, 1827, on the particles contained in the pollen of plants: and on the general existence of active molecules in organic and inorganic bodies ...|date=1828|publisher=A. and C. Black|oclc=38057036}}</ref>
* 1831&nbsp;– [[Macedonio Melloni]] demonstrates that black-body radiation can be [[Reflection (physics)|reflected]], [[refraction|refracted]], and [[Polarization (waves)|polarised]] in the same way as light
* 1834&nbsp;– [[Émile Clapeyron]] popularises Carnot's work through a graphical and analytic formulation. He also combined [[Boyle's law]], [[Charles's law]], and [[Gay-Lussac's law]] to produce a [[combined gas law]].  PV/T = k <ref>{{Cite book|last=CLAPEYRON, Benoît Paul Émile.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/559435201|title=Mémoire sur la puissance motrice de la chaleur.|date=1834|oclc=559435201}}</ref>
* 1841&nbsp;– [[Julius Robert von Mayer]], an [[amateur]] scientist, writes a paper on the conservation of energy, but his lack of academic training leads to its rejection
* 1842&nbsp;– Mayer makes a connection between work, heat, and the human [[metabolism]] based on his observations of blood made while a ship's surgeon; he calculates the [[mechanical equivalent of heat]]
* 1842&nbsp;– [[William Robert Grove]] demonstrates the thermal dissociation of molecules into their constituent atoms, by showing that steam can be disassociated into oxygen and hydrogen, and the process [[reversible process (thermodynamics)|reversed]]
* 1843&nbsp;– [[John James Waterston]] fully expounds the kinetic theory of gases,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Waterston, John J.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/328092289|title=Thoughts on the mental functions : being an attempt to treat metaphysics as a branch of the physiology of the nervous system.|date=1843|publisher=London|oclc=328092289}}</ref> but according to D Levermore "there is no evidence that any physical scientist read the book; perhaps it was overlooked because of its misleading title, Thoughts on the Mental Functions."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Neglected Pioneers|url=https://www.math.umd.edu/~lvrmr/History/Neglected.html|access-date=2020-12-20|website=www.math.umd.edu}}</ref>
* 1843&nbsp;– [[James Joule]] experimentally finds the mechanical equivalent of heat <ref>{{Cite journal|last=Joule|first=J.P.|date=1843|title=LII. On the calorific effects of magneto-electricity, and on the mechanical value of heat|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14786444308644766|journal=The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science|language=en|volume=23|issue=154|pages=435–443|doi=10.1080/14786444308644766|issn=1941-5966}}</ref>
* 1845&nbsp;– [[Henri Victor Regnault]] added [[Avogadro's law]] to the [[combined gas law]] to produce the [[ideal gas law]]. PV = nRT
* 1846&nbsp;– Grove publishes an account of the general theory of the conservation of energy in ''On The Correlation of Physical Forces'' <ref>{{Cite book|last=Grove|first=W. R.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.19475|title=The correlation of physical forces (6th edition) by W.R. Grove.|date=1874|publisher=Longmans, Green|location=London|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.19475}}</ref>
* 1847&nbsp;– [[Hermann von Helmholtz]] publishes a definitive statement of the conservation of energy, the [[first law of thermodynamics]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Helmholtz, Hermann v.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/488622067|title=Über die Erhaltung der Kraft, eine physikalische Abhandlung|date=1847|oclc=488622067}}</ref>

== 1848–1899 ==
* 1848&nbsp;– [[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|William Thomson]] extends the concept of absolute zero from gases to all substances
* 1849&nbsp;– [[William John Macquorn Rankine]] calculates the correct relationship between [[saturation vapor pressure|saturated vapour pressure]] and [[temperature]] using his ''hypothesis of molecular vortices''
* 1850&nbsp;– Rankine uses his ''vortex'' theory to establish accurate relationships between the temperature, [[pressure]], and [[density]] of gases, and expressions for the [[latent heat]] of [[evaporation]] of a liquid; he accurately predicts the surprising fact that the apparent [[specific heat]] of saturated [[steam]] will be negative
* 1850&nbsp;– [[Rudolf Clausius]] coined the term "entropy" (das Wärmegewicht, symbolized S) to denote heat lost or turned into waste. ("Wärmegewicht" translates literally as "heat-weight"; the corresponding English term stems from the Greek τρέπω, "I turn".)
* 1850&nbsp;– Clausius gives the first clear joint statement of the [[First law of thermodynamics|first]] and [[Second law of thermodynamics|second]] law of thermodynamics, abandoning the caloric theory, but preserving Carnot's principle
* 1851&nbsp;– Thomson gives an alternative statement of the second law
* 1852&nbsp;– Joule and Thomson demonstrate that a rapidly expanding gas cools, later named the [[Joule–Thomson effect]] or Joule–Kelvin effect
* 1854&nbsp;– Helmholtz puts forward the idea of the [[heat death of the universe]]
* 1854&nbsp;– Clausius establishes the importance of ''dQ/T'' ([[Clausius's theorem]]), but does not yet name the quantity
* 1854&nbsp;– Rankine introduces his ''thermodynamic function'', later identified as [[entropy]]
* 1856&nbsp;– [[August Krönig]] publishes an account of the kinetic theory of gases, probably after reading Waterston's work
* 1857&nbsp;– Clausius gives a modern and compelling account of the kinetic theory of gases in his ''On the nature of motion called heat''
* 1859&nbsp;– [[James Clerk Maxwell]] discovers the [[Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution|distribution law of molecular velocities]]
* 1859&nbsp;– [[Gustav Kirchhoff]] shows that energy emission from a [[black body]] is a function of only temperature and frequency
* 1862&nbsp;– "[[Disgregation]]", a precursor of [[entropy]], was defined in 1862 by Clausius as the magnitude of the degree of separation of molecules of a body
* 1865&nbsp;– Clausius introduces the modern [[macroscopic]] concept of entropy
* 1865&nbsp;– [[Josef Loschmidt]] applies Maxwell's theory to estimate the number-density of molecules in gases, given observed gas viscosities.
* 1867&nbsp;– Maxwell asks whether [[Maxwell's demon]] could reverse irreversible processes
* 1870&nbsp;– Clausius proves the scalar [[virial theorem]]
* 1872&nbsp;– [[Ludwig Boltzmann]] states the [[Boltzmann equation]] for the temporal development of [[Distribution function (physics)|distribution function]]s in [[phase space]], and publishes his [[H-theorem]]
* 1873&nbsp;- [[Johannes Diderik van der Waals]] formulates his [[equation of state]]
* 1874&nbsp;– Thomson formally states the [[second law of thermodynamics]]
* 1876&nbsp;– [[Josiah Willard Gibbs]] publishes the first of two papers (the second appears in 1878) which discuss phase equilibria, [[statistical ensemble]]s, the [[Thermodynamic free energy|free energy]] as the driving force behind [[chemical reaction]]s, and [[chemical thermodynamics]] in general.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}
* 1876&nbsp;– Loschmidt criticises Boltzmann's H theorem as being incompatible with microscopic reversibility ([[Loschmidt's paradox]]).
* 1877&nbsp;– Boltzmann states the relationship between entropy and [[probability]]
* 1879&nbsp;– [[Joseph Stefan|Jožef Stefan]] observes that the total radiant flux from a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of its temperature and states the [[Stefan–Boltzmann law]]
* 1884&nbsp;– Boltzmann derives the Stefan–Boltzmann blackbody radiant flux law from thermodynamic considerations
* 1888&nbsp;– [[Henri-Louis Le Chatelier]] states his [[Le Châtelier's principle|principle]] that the response of a chemical system perturbed from equilibrium will be to counteract the perturbation
* 1889&nbsp;– [[Walther Nernst]] relates the voltage of electrochemical cells to their chemical thermodynamics via the [[Nernst equation]]
* 1889&nbsp;– [[Svante Arrhenius]] introduces the idea of [[activation energy]] for chemical reactions, giving the [[Arrhenius equation]]
* 1893&nbsp;– [[Wilhelm Wien]] discovers the displacement law for a blackbody's maximum specific intensity

== 1900–1944 ==
* 1900&nbsp;– [[Max Planck]] suggests that light may be emitted in discrete frequencies, giving his [[Planck's law of black-body radiation|law of black-body radiation]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Planck, Max, 1858-1947.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/15745309|title=Zur Theorie des Gesetzes der Energieverteilung im Normalspectrum|oclc=15745309}}</ref>
* 1905&nbsp;– [[Albert Einstein]], in the first of his [[Annus Mirabilis papers|miracle year papers]], argues that the reality of [[quantum|quanta]] would explain the [[photoelectric effect]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Einstein|first=Albert|date=1905|title=On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light|url=https://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/lectures/Rotman_Summer_School_2013/Einstein_1905_docs/Einstein_Light_Quantum_WikiSource.pdf|journal=Annalen der Physik (In German)}}</ref>
* 1905&nbsp;– Einstein mathematically analyzes [[Brownian motion]] as a result of random molecular motion in his paper [[Über die von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der Wärme geforderte Bewegung von in ruhenden Flüssigkeiten suspendierten Teilchen|On the movement of small particles suspended in a stationary liquid demanded by the molecular-kinetic theory of heat]]
* 1906&nbsp;– Nernst presents a formulation of the [[third law of thermodynamics]]
* 1907&nbsp;– Einstein uses quantum theory to estimate the [[heat capacity]] of an [[Einstein solid]]
* 1909&nbsp;– [[Constantin Carathéodory]] develops an [[axiomatic system]] of thermodynamics <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pogliani |first1=Lionello |last2=Berberan-Santos |first2=Mario |title=Constantin Carathéodory and the axiomatic thermodynamics |journal=Journal of Mathematical Chemistry |date=2000 |volume=28 |issue=1 |page=313 |doi=10.1023/A:1018834326958 |s2cid=17244147 |url=https://link-springer-com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/content/pdf/10.1023/A:1018834326958.pdf |access-date=May 30, 2022}}</ref>
* 1910&nbsp;– Einstein and [[Marian Smoluchowski]] find the [[Einstein–Smoluchowski formula]] for the attenuation coefficient due to density fluctuations in a gas
* 1911&nbsp;– [[Paul Ehrenfest]] and [[Tatyana Afanasyeva|Tatjana Ehrenfest–Afanassjewa]] publish their classical review on the statistical mechanics of Boltzmann, ''Begriffliche Grundlagen der statistischen Auffassung in der Mechanik''
* 1912&nbsp;– [[Peter Debye]] gives an [[Debye model|improved heat capacity estimate]] by allowing low-frequency [[phonons]]<ref>{{cite journal |first=Peter |last=Debye |title=Zur Theorie der spezifischen Waerme  |language=de|journal=[[Annalen der Physik]] |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=789–839 |year=1912 |doi= 10.1002/andp.19123441404 |bibcode = 1912AnP...344..789D |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1424256 }}</ref>
* 1916&nbsp;– [[Sydney Chapman (mathematician)|Sydney Chapman]] and [[David Enskog]] systematically develop the kinetic theory of gases
* 1916&nbsp;– Einstein considers the thermodynamics of [[atomic spectral line]]s and predicts [[stimulated emission]]
* 1919&nbsp;– [[James Jeans]] discovers that the dynamical constants of motion determine the distribution function for a system of particles
* 1920&nbsp;– [[Meghnad Saha]] states his [[Saha ionization equation|ionization equation]]<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/14786441008636148|title=LIII.Ionization in the solar chromosphere|year=1920|last1=Saha|first1=Megh Nad|journal=Philosophical Magazine |series=Series 6|volume=40|issue=238|pages=472–488|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1430870}}</ref>
* 1923&nbsp;– Debye and [[Erich Hückel]] publish a statistical treatment of the dissociation of [[electrolyte]]s
* 1924&nbsp;– [[Satyendra Nath Bose]] introduces [[Bose–Einstein statistics]], in a paper translated by Einstein
* 1926&nbsp;– [[Enrico Fermi]]<ref name='Fermi1926'>{{cite journal| title=Sulla quantizzazione del gas perfetto monoatomico| journal=Rendiconti Lincei| language=it| year=1926| first=Enrico| last=Fermi| volume=3| pages=145–9}}, translated as {{cite arXiv| title=On the Quantization of the Monoatomic Ideal Gas| eprint=cond-mat/9912229| date=1999-12-14 | last1=Zannoni| first1=Alberto}}</ref> and [[Paul Dirac]]<ref name='Dirac1926'>{{cite journal| title=On the Theory of Quantum Mechanics| journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society A| year=1926| first=Paul A. M.| last=Dirac| author-link=Paul Dirac| volume=112| issue=762| pages=661–77| jstor=94692| doi=10.1098/rspa.1926.0133 |bibcode = 1926RSPSA.112..661D | doi-access=free}}</ref> introduce [[Fermi–Dirac statistics]]
* 1927&nbsp;– [[John von Neumann]] introduces the [[density matrix]] representation,<ref>{{Citation | last = von Neumann | first = John  | year = 1927 | author-link = John von Neumann  |title=Wahrscheinlichkeitstheoretischer Aufbau der Quantenmechanik | journal = Göttinger Nachrichten | volume = 1|pages= 245–272|url=https://eudml.org/doc/59230}}</ref> establishing [[quantum statistical mechanics]]
* 1928&nbsp;– [[John Bertrand Johnson|John B. Johnson]] discovers [[Johnson noise]] in a resistor <ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1103/PhysRev.29.350|title = Minutes of the Philadelphia Meeting December 28, 29, 30, 1926|journal = Physical Review|volume = 29|issue = 2|pages = 350–373|year = 1927|last1 = Anonymous|bibcode = 1927PhRv...29..350.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=J.|last=Johnson|title=Thermal Agitation of Electricity in Conductors|journal= Physical Review|volume=32|pages=97–109|number=97|date=1928|doi=10.1103/physrev.32.97|bibcode=1928PhRv...32...97J}}</ref>
* 1928&nbsp;– [[Harry Nyquist]] derives the [[fluctuation-dissipation theorem]], a relationship to explain [[Johnson noise]] in a resistor <ref>{{cite journal | author = Nyquist H |author-link = Harry Nyquist | year = 1928 | title = Thermal Agitation of Electric Charge in Conductors | journal = [[Physical Review]] | volume = 32 |issue = 1 | pages = 110&ndash;113 | bibcode = 1928PhRv...32..110N | doi = 10.1103/PhysRev.32.110 }}</ref>
* 1931&nbsp;– [[Lars Onsager]] publishes his groundbreaking paper deriving the [[Onsager reciprocal relations]]<ref name="onsager">{{cite journal | last=Onsager | first=Lars | title=Reciprocal Relations in Irreversible Processes. I. | journal=Physical Review | publisher=American Physical Society (APS) | volume=37 | issue=4 | date=1931-02-15 | issn=0031-899X | doi=10.1103/physrev.37.405 | pages=405–426| bibcode=1931PhRv...37..405O |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* 1935&nbsp;– [[Ralph H. Fowler]] invents the title '[[Zeroth law of thermodynamics|the zeroth law of thermodynamics]]' to summarise postulates made by earlier physicists that thermal equilibrium between systems is a [[transitive relation]]
* 1938&nbsp;– [[Anatoly Vlasov]] proposes the [[Vlasov equation]] for a correct dynamical description of ensembles of particles with collective long range interaction<ref>{{cite journal|author=A. A. Vlasov|title=On Vibration Properties of Electron Gas|journal=[[Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics|J. Exp. Theor. Phys.]]|volume=8|pages=291|date=1938|url= http://ufn.ru/ru/articles/1967/11/f/|language=ru|issue=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=A. A. Vlasov|title=The Vibrational Properties of an Electron Gas|journal=Soviet Physics Uspekhi| volume=10| pages=721–733|date=1968|url= http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0038-5670/10/6/R01|doi=10.1070/PU1968v010n06ABEH003709|issue=6|bibcode = 1968SvPhU..10..721V |s2cid=122952713 }}</ref>
* 1939&nbsp;– [[Nikolay Mitrofanovich Krylov|Nikolay Krylov]] and [[Nikolay Bogolyubov]] give the first consistent microscopic derivation of the [[Fokker–Planck equation]] in the single scheme of classical and quantum mechanics <ref>[[Nikolay Boglyubov Jr.|N. N. Bogolyubov Jr.]] and D. P. Sankovich (1994). "N. N. Bogolyubov and statistical mechanics". ''Russian Math. Surveys'' '''49'''(5): 19—49. {{doi|10.1070/RM1994v049n05ABEH002419}}</ref><ref>[[Nikolay Bogoliubov|N. N. Bogoliubov]] and [[Nikolay Mitrofanovich Krylov|N. M. Krylov]] (1939). ''Fokker–Planck equations generated in perturbation theory by a method based on the spectral properties of a perturbed Hamiltonian''. Zapiski Kafedry Fiziki Akademii Nauk Ukrainian SSR '''4''': 81–157 (in Ukrainian).</ref>
* 1942&nbsp;– [[Joseph L. Doob]] states his theorem on [[Gauss–Markov process]]es
* 1944&nbsp;– [[Lars Onsager]] gives an analytic solution to the 2-dimensional [[Ising model]], including its [[phase transition]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Onsager|first=Lars|date=1944-02-01|title=Crystal Statistics. I. A Two-Dimensional Model with an Order-Disorder Transition|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/physrev.65.117|journal=Physical Review|volume=65|issue=3–4|pages=117–149|doi=10.1103/physrev.65.117|bibcode=1944PhRv...65..117O|issn=0031-899X}}</ref>

== 1945–present ==
* 1945–1946&nbsp;– [[Nikolay Bogoliubov]] develops a general method for a microscopic derivation of kinetic equations for classical statistical systems using [[BBGKY hierarchy]]<ref name="a">{{cite journal|author=N. N. Bogoliubov|author-link=Nikolay Bogoliubov|title=Kinetic Equations|journal=[[JETP|Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics]]|volume=16|issue=8|pages=691–702|year=1946|language=ru}}</ref><ref name="b">{{cite journal|author=N. N. Bogoliubov|author-link=Nikolay Bogoliubov|title=Kinetic Equations|journal=Journal of Physics USSR|volume=10|issue=3|pages=265–274|year=1946}}</ref>
* 1947&nbsp;– [[Nikolay Bogoliubov]] and [[Kirill Gurov]] extend this method for a microscopic derivation of kinetic equations for quantum statistical systems
* 1948&nbsp;– [[Claude Elwood Shannon]] establishes [[information theory]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shannon, Claude Elwood, 1916-2001.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/967725093|title=The mathematical theory of communication|date=September 1998|isbn=978-0-252-09803-1|oclc=967725093}}</ref>
* 1957&nbsp;– [[Aleksandr Solomonovich Kompaneets]] derives his Compton scattering [[Fokker–Planck equation]]
* 1957&nbsp;– [[Ryogo Kubo]] derives the first of the [[Green-Kubo relations]] for linear transport coefficients <ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kubo|first=Ryogo|date=1957-06-15|title=Statistical-Mechanical Theory of Irreversible Processes. I. General Theory and Simple Applications to Magnetic and Conduction Problems|url=http://journals.jps.jp/doi/10.1143/JPSJ.12.570|journal=Journal of the Physical Society of Japan|language=en|volume=12|issue=6|pages=570–586|doi=10.1143/JPSJ.12.570|bibcode=1957JPSJ...12..570K |issn=0031-9015}}</ref>
* 1957&nbsp;– [[Edwin T. Jaynes]] publishes two papers detailing the [[Maximum entropy thermodynamics|MaxEnt interpretation]] of thermodynamics from information theory <ref>{{cite journal |author=Jaynes, E.T. |title=Information theory and statistical mechanics |journal=Physical Review |volume=106 |issue=4 |pages=620–630 |year=1957 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.106.620 |url=http://bayes.wustl.edu/etj/articles/theory.1.pdf |bibcode=1957PhRv..106..620J}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Jaynes, E.T. |author-mask=1 |title=Information theory and statistical mechanics II |journal=Physical Review |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=171–190 |year=1957 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.108.171 |url=http://bayes.wustl.edu/etj/articles/theory.2.pdf |bibcode=1957PhRv..108..171J}}</ref>
* 1960–1965&nbsp;– [[Dmitry Zubarev]] develops the method of [[non-equilibrium statistical operator]], which becomes a classical tool in the statistical theory of non-equilibrium processes
* 1972&nbsp;– [[Jacob Bekenstein]] suggests that [[black holes]] have an entropy proportional to their surface area
* 1974&nbsp;– [[Stephen Hawking]] predicts that black holes will [[Hawking radiation|radiate]] particles with a black-body spectrum which can cause black hole evaporation
*1977&nbsp;– [[Ilya Prigogine]] wins the Nobel prize for his work on [[dissipative structures]] in thermodynamic systems far from equilibrium.  The importation and dissipation of energy could reverse the 2nd law of thermodynamics

== See also ==
* [[Timeline of heat engine technology]]
* [[History of physics]]
* [[History of thermodynamics]]
* [[Thermodynamics]]
* [[Timeline of information theory]]
* [[List of textbooks in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{History of physics}}

[[Category:History of thermodynamics]]
[[Category:Physics timelines|Thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and random processes]]
[[Category:Thermodynamics]]
[[Category:Chemical engineering]]