| Reference number | RR/15/63 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Referee's report by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin on a paper 'The distribution of molecular energy' by James Hopwood Jeans |
| Date | 9 July 1900 |
| Description | Sectional committee: Physics and chemistry
Not recommended for for publication in Philosophical Transactions, short portions such as those marked [on the manuscript] with an 'x' might properly be added to the abstract for the Proceedings. Explains why in line 13 of the abstract the phrase 'indirect' should be deleted. Provides a quote from Maxwell's article 'The Dynamical Evidence of the Molecular Constitution of Bodies' 'Nature', XI, 1875, collected works page 433, concerning the greatest difficulty yet encountered by the molecular theory. The same subject is well treated by the author of the present paper in the first two sentences of his footnote on page two, but the author has certainly not made any step towards getting over the difficulty. In the generalized theory of temperature pages 91-93, the author gives no definition of what he means by 'temperature' and the idea of several temperatures instead of one is absolutely inconsistent with the definition of the term and is in no way helpful towards a deeper knowledge of the subject.
[Published in Philosophical Transactions A, 1901].
Endorsed on verso as received 10 July 1900. |
| Extent | 3p |
| Format | Manuscript |
| Physical description | Standardised form (type A) and note on paper |
| Digital images | View item on Science in the Making |
| Access status | Open |
| Related material | DOI: 10.1098/rsta.1901.0008 |
| Related records in the catalogue | RR/15/64 |
| RR/15/65 |
| RR/15/66 |
| RR/15/67 |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | Name | Dates |
| NA8289 | Thomson; William (1824 - 1907); Baron Kelvin of Largs; physicist | 1824 - 1907 |
| NA1226 | Jeans; Sir; James Hopwood (1877 - 1946); physicist and mathematician | 1877 - 1946 |