Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903) was an American scientist who made important theoretical contributions to physics, chemistry, and mathematics. His work on the applications of thermodynamics was instrumental in transforming physical chemistry into a rigorous deductive science. Together with James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann, he created statistical mechanics (a term that he coined), explaining the laws of thermodynamics as consequences of the statistical properties of large ensembles of particles. Gibbs also worked on the application of Maxwell's equations to problems in physical optics. He invented modern vector calculus, independently of Oliver Heaviside's similar work. In 1863, Yale awarded Gibbs the first American doctorate in engineering. He was a professor of mathematical physics at Yale from 1871 until his death. Working in relative isolation, he became the earliest theoretical scientist in the United States to earn an international reputation, and in 1901 he was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London. He was praised by Albert Einstein as "the greatest mind in American history".
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Willard_Gibbs
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
660 BC:
According to tradition, Emperor Jimmu founded Japan and established his capital in Yamato. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Jimmu
1858:
Fourteen-year-old peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous reported the first of eighteen Marian apparitions in Lourdes, France, resulting in the town becoming a major site for pilgrimages by Catholics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lourdes_apparitions
1929:
To help settle the "Roman Question", Italy and the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church signed the Lateran Treaty to establish Vatican City as an independent sovereign enclave within Italy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty
1979:
The Pahlavi dynasty of Iran effectively collapsed when the military declared itself "neutral" after rebel troops overwhelmed forces loyal to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in armed street fighting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution
1990:
Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, was released from Victor Verster Prison near Paarl, South Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
nosh: (intransitive, usually with on) To eat a snack or light meal. […] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nosh
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Government ought not to be invested with power to control the affections, any more than the consciences of citizens. A man has at least as good a right to choose his wife, as he has to choose his religion. His taste may not suit his neighbors; but so long as his deportment is correct, they have no right to interfere with his concerns. --Lydia Maria Child https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lydia_Maria_Child