• https://doi.org/10.7312/columbia/9780231164481.003.0002Copy DOI Icon

A Great Mistake Has Been Made

  • Dec 23, 2014
  • James Lawrence Powell
Show More
  • Abstract
  • Literature Map
  • Similar Papers
Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines scientific ideas that led to the theory of deep time, with particular emphasis on the work of William Thomson, later Lord Kelvin. Kelvin used the laws of physics to reject Charles Lyell's theory of uniformitarianism to explain an eternal, unchanging Earth. The first law of thermodynamics holds that in any process, energy in the form of heat and work is conserved. The second law can be stated simply as: heat flows spontaneously from hotter to colder places, never the opposite. In describing geologic time as infinite and the Earth as unchanging, Lyell claimed that the Earth is a perpetual-motion machine, one that can not only win the energy battle but go on doing so forever. But the first and second laws of thermodynamics prove that such a machine is impossible. According to Kelvin, Lyell's theory “violates the principles of natural philosophy.” This chapter considers Kelvin's argument about the age of the Earth and how he pushed geology toward the twentieth century.

Similar Papers
  • PDF
  • Research Article
  • Citations13

Generalized second law of thermodynamics for non-canonical scalar field model with corrected-entropy

  • Oct 01, 2015
  • The European Physical Journal C
  • Sudipta Das +2
  • Book Chapter
  • Citations2

The First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics

  • Jan 01, 2012
  • Mehmet Kanoğlu +2
  • Research Article
  • Citations2

Numerical analysis reliability control for a double‐pipe heat exchanger with virtual entropy generation method

  • Apr 23, 2019
  • Heat Transfer—Asian Research
  • Tooran Tavangar +2
  • Research Article
  • Citations2

Bioenergy, sustainability, and the second law

  • Dec 06, 2012
  • GCB Bioenergy
  • Niclas Scott Bentsen +1
  • Research Article
  • Citations16

A scale-invariant model of statistical mechanics and modified forms of the first and the second laws of thermodynamics

  • Nov 01, 1999
  • International Journal of Thermal Sciences
  • Siavash H Sohrab
  • Research Article

Comparative Energy and Exergy Analysis of a Thermal Power Plant With/Without Retrofitted Inlet Air Cooler: A Case Study

  • Jun 02, 2018
  • European Journal of Engineering and Technology Research
  • Sufianu Adeiza Aliu +1
  • Research Article

THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF SUGAR PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

  • Aug 01, 2018
  • Bulletin of the National Technical University "KhPI". Series: Innovation researches in students’ scientific work
  • Sergiy Melnik +3
  • PDF
  • Research Article
  • Citations3

Experimental Energy and Exergy Analysis of an Automotive Turbocharger Using a Novel Power-Based Approach

  • Oct 13, 2021
  • Energies
  • Sina Kazemi Bakhshmand +2
  • Conference Article

The Comparison of Thermodynamic and Thermoeconomic Analysis in Application to Eco-Technical System Design

  • Jul 07, 2003
  • SAE technical papers on CD-ROM/SAE technical paper series
  • N M Samsonov +2
  • Book Chapter

Chapter 2—Principles of Thermoelectric Thermometry

  • Jan 01, 1981
  • Book Chapter
  • Citations2

Principles of Thermoelectric Thermometry

  • Jan 01, 1970
  • Research Article
  • Citations36

Experimental study on heat and exergy balance of a dual-fuel combined injection engine with hydrogen and gasoline

  • Jul 18, 2019
  • International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
  • Ping Sun +5
  • Research Article

A second-law model for the decarbonization potential of heat pumps

  • Mar 12, 2026
  • Engineering power
  • Birol Birol Kılkış
  • Research Article
  • Citations11

First law of thermodynamics and emergence of cosmic space in a non-flat universe

  • Dec 01, 2019
  • Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
  • T Hareesh +2
  • PDF
  • Research Article
  • Citations20

A note of the first law of thermodynamics by gravitational decoupling

  • Aug 01, 2020
  • The European Physical Journal C
  • Milko Estrada +1
Cactus Communications logo

Copyright 2026 Cactus Communications. All rights reserved.