Abstract
The analysis of a certain number of textbooks on Thermodynamics is expounded with the aim of showing that several “mental representations” of this subject matter are present in scientific literature. This analysis points out divergent attitudes not only towards the definition of fundamental concepts principles, but also towards the epistemological status of Thermodynamics. These attitudes underlie-sometimes tacitly-the relationship between the macroscopic and the microscopic approach on one side and between the “state” or “process” approach on the other. We also show the importance of both the historical reconstruction and the epistemological analysis for a deeper understanding of what these different mental representations underlie and entail.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AA. VV.: 1989, Int. J. Sci. Educ. 11, Special Issue on Students Conceptions in Science.
Atkins, P. W.: 1984, The Second Law, Scientific American Books, New York.
Callen, H. B.: 1985, Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics, Jonn Wiley & Sons, New York.
Denbigh, K. G.: 1989, ‘Note on Entropy, Disorder and Disorganization’, Brit. J. Phil. Sci. 40, 323.
Falk, G., Hermann, F. & Schmidt, G. B.: 1983, ‘Energy Forms or Energy Carriers’, Am. J. Phys. 51, 1074–1077.
Giannetto, E., Tarsitani, C. & Vicentini, M.: 1992, ‘The Relations between Epistemology, History of Science and Science Teaching from the Point of View of the Research on Mental Representations’, in Skip, Hills (ed.), History & Philosophy of Science in Science Education, Queen's Univ., Kingston, 359–374.
Giaquinta, P. V., Vicentini Missoni, M. & Wanderling, F. (eds.): 1992, Proceedings of the Taormina Conference on Thermodynamics—Taormina 1991, Accademia Peloritana dei Pericolanti, Messina.
Gibbs, J. W.: 1902, Elementary Principles of Statistical Mechanics, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven.
Gibbs, J. W.: 1873, “A Method of Geometrical Representation of the Thermodynamic Properties of Substances by Means of Surfaces”, Transactions of the Connecticut Academy 2, 382–404; reprinted in The scientific papers of J. Willard Gibbs, Vol. 1 (New York, 1961), 33–54.
Gibbs, J. W.: 1875, “On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances”, Transactions of the Connecticut Academy, 3, 108–248, 343–524; reprinted in The scientific papers of J. Willard Gibbs, Vol. 1 (New York, 1961), 55–349.
Hermann, F.: 1986, ‘Is an Energy Current Moving Energy?’, Eur. J. Phys. 7, 138–141.
Hermann, F.: 1993, Der Karlsruer Physikkurs, Karlsruhe Universität.
Hollinger, J. B. & Zenzen, M. J.: 1985, The Nature of Irreversibility, Reidel Dordrecht, Amsterdam.
Kuhn, T. S.: 1978, Black-body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity 1894–1912, Oxford Univ. Press, New York.
Leff, H. S. & Rex, A. F.: 1990, Maxwell's Demon. Entropy, Information, Computing, Adam Hilger, Bristol.
Maxwell, J. C.: 1904, Theory of Heat, Longmans Green Co, London [reprint of the 2nd edition, 1871].
Müller, I.: 1985, Thermodynamics, Pitman Adv. Publ. Program, Boston.
Novak, J. D. & Gowin, D. B.: 1984, Learning How to Learn, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Planck, M.: 1897, Vorlesungen über Thermodynamik, Verlag von Veit & Comp., Leipzig.
Schmidt, B. G.: 1984, ‘An up-to-date Approach to Physics’, Am. J. Phys. 52, 794–799.
Sciarretta, M. R., Stilli, R. & Vicentini Missoni, M.: 1990, ‘On the Thermal Properties of Materials: Common-sense Knowledge of Italian Students and Teachers’, Int. J. Sci. Educ. 12, 369–379.
Sklar, L.: 1993, Physics and Chance. Philosophical Issues in the Foundations of Statistical Mechanics, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Stuekelberg de Breidenbach, E. C. G. & Scheurer, P. B.: 1974, Thermocinétique Phenomenologique Galiléenne, Birkhauzer Verlag, Basel.
Tarsitani, C. & Vicentini, M.: 1991, ‘History of and Education in Thermodynamics: Comments and Problems Related to Mental Representations and Semantics’, in K., Martinás, L., Ropolyi and P., Szegedi (eds.), Thermodynamics: History and Philosophy, World Scientific, Singapore, 440–446.
Tisza, L.: 1966, Generalized Thermodynamics, The MIT Press, Cambridge (Mass.).
Waldram, J. R.: 1985, The Theory of Thermodynamics, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Wise, N.: 1982, ‘The Maxwell Literature and British Dynamical Theory’, His. Stud. Phys. Sci. 13 (1), 175–205.
Zemansky, M.: 1968, Heat and Thermodynamics, Mac Grow-Hill, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tarsitani, C., Vicentini, M. Scientific mental representations of Thermodynamics. Sci Educ 5, 51–68 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00426440
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00426440