So, what did you do on February 20? Perhaps you just went to school. Maybe you stayed up to see the eclipse. You should have considered celebrating Ludwig Boltzmann"s 164th birthday.

I"m sure that name rings a bell, if for no other reason than Boltzmann"s constant (k=1.38×1023 J/K). This constant is instrumental in his most famous equation, S = k × log(W). With this formula, Boltzmann was able to completely mathematically define entropy as a measure of disorder. This equation was of such monumental import that it was carved on his tomb.

Ludwig Boltzmann was born on February 20, 1844, in Vienna, Austria. He studied physics at the University of Austria. When he was 25 he was appointed to a chair of theoretical physics at Gratz. Over the next few years, Boltzmann would move from University to University accepting new positions. Boltzmann liked to say that the reason for his constant dislocation was that he was born at a Mardi Gras Ball. In his later years, Boltzmann would also lecture on natural philosophy. These lectures were very popular, and would often overfill the largest room at the University of Vienna.



Boltzmann did have a number of scientific opponents. Principally, the opposition came from physicists who did not like the irreversibility implicit in the Boltzman equation. He also gained animosity for his support of the atomic theory, which was not widely recognized at the time.