The Two Principal Laws of Thermodynamics: A Cultural and Historical Exploration

In the first two chapters, van den Berg deals with the discovery of the first main law by Count Rumford and with the rediscovery of this law by Julius Mayer. Contributions made by Carnot, Clausius and Lord Kelvin in discovering the second main law are treated in the third chapter. Perhaps most interestingly, the final two chapters deal explicitly with the relationships between major cultural shifts of the time and the discovery of these laws.