Who ... is not familiar with Maxwell's memoirs on his dynamical theory of gases? ... from one side enter the equations of state; from the other side, the equations of motion in a central field. Ever higher soars the chaos of formulae. Suddenly we hear, as from kettle drums, the four beats 'put n=5.' The evil spirit v vanishes; and ... that which had seemed insuperable has been overcome as if by a stroke of magic ... One result after another follows in quick succession till at last ... we arrive at the conditions for thermal equilibrium together with expressions for the transport coefficients.
Ludwig BoltzmannThermodynamics, correctly interpreted, does not just allow Darwinian evolution; it favors it.
Ludwig BoltzmannIn my view all salvation for philosophy may be expected to come from Darwin's theory
Ludwig BoltzmannWhich is more remarkable fact about America: that millionaires are idealists or idealists become millionaires.
Ludwig BoltzmannThe most ordinary things are to philosophy a source of insoluble puzzles. With infinite ingenuity it constructs a concept of space or time and then finds it absolutely impossible that there be objects in this space or that processes occur during this time . . . the source of this kind of logic lies in excessive confidence in the so-called laws of thought.
Ludwig Boltzmann