Thermodynamics is considered to be an offshoot of the Industrial Revo lution that began in
England in the second half of the 18th Century and from there spread to other parts of the
world. The word thermodynamics is derived from the Greek therme (meaning heat) and dynamis
(meaning force). As well known the origins of thermodynamics are founded in the early 19th
century in the study of the motive power of heat that is the capability of hot bodies to
produce mechanical work. However there are of course precursors to these ideas: Temperature is
probably the earliest thermodynamic concept to attain operational status (early in the 17th
century with Galileo). The science of calorimetry beginning in the late 18th century
(contemporary with the beginning of the Indus trial Revolution) led to the establishment of the
caloric theory of heat [5]. Clausius in the second half of the 19th century established
Thermody namics as a clearly defined science. The connection of Thermodynamics with Mechanics
is first achieved through kinetic theory with the work of D. Bernouilli J Herapath ]. ].
Waterston R. Clausius ]. c. Maxwell and finally L. Boltzmann later through Statistical
Mechanics whose main purpose is to determine the thermodynamic properties and values of
macroscopic observables in terms of the dynamical laws that govern the motion of the
constitutive particles of the system. It is not easy to estab lish precisely the dates of the
birth of Statistical Mechanics.
