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ing century； he was assured；would be one of consolidation and refinement； not revolution。 planck didn鈥檛 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鈥檛 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鈥�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鈥斺�済ases； mixtures； surfaces； solids； phase changes 。 。 。 chemical reactions；electrochemical cells； sedimentation； and osmosis；鈥潯o quote william h。 cropper。 in essencewhat gibbs did was show that thermodynamics didn鈥檛 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鈥檚 equilibrium has been called 鈥渢he principia ofthermodynamics；鈥潯ut 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鈥攚ell； perhaps mildly daunted鈥攑lanck 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：
鈥渢he ether is not a fantastic creation of the speculative philosopher； it is as essential to us asthe air we breathe鈥濃�攖his more than four years after it was pretty incontestably establishedthat it didn鈥檛 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鈥損olish 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鈥檚 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鈥攁 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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： 鈥渢he speed of light turned out to bethe same inall directions and at all seasons。鈥潯t was the first hint in two hundred years鈥攊nexactly two hundred years； in fact鈥攖hat newton鈥檚 laws might not apply all the timeeverywhere。 the michelson…morley oute became； in the words of william h。 cropper；鈥減robably the most famous negative result in the history of physics。鈥潯ichelson was awardeda nobel prize in physics for the work鈥攖he first american so honored鈥攂ut not for twentyyears。 meanwhile； the michelson…morley experiments would hover unpleasantly； like a mustysmell； in the background of scientific thought。
remarkably； and despite his findings； when the twentieth century dawned michelsoncounted himself among those who believed that the work of science was nearly at an end；with 鈥渙nly a few turrets and pinnacles to be added； a few roof bosses to be carved；鈥潯n thewords of a writer in nature。
in fact； of course； the world was about to enter a century of science where many peoplewouldn鈥檛 understand anything and none would understand everything。 scientists would soonfind themselves adrift in a bewildering realm of particles and antiparticles； where things popin and out of existence in spans of time that make nanoseconds look plodding and uneventful；where everything is strange。 science was moving from a world of macrophysics； whereobjects could be seen and held and measured； to one of microphysics； where events transpirewith unimaginable swiftness on scales far below the limits of imagining。 we were about toenter the quantum age； and the first person to push on the door was the so…far unfortunatemax planck。
in 1900； now a theoretical physicist at the university of berlin and at the somewhatadvanced age of forty…two； planck unveiled a new 鈥渜uantum theory；鈥潯�