In thermodynamics, Louis Napoleon George Filon (1875-1937), cited as L.N.G. Filon, was a French-born English mathematician and physicist noted for his circa 1898 “conception of historical change and of time as a problem in relative motion”, which he suggested to English mathematical physicist Karl Pearson, who in turn penned a note entitled “On the Reversibility of Natural Processes” to his 1900 The Grammar of Science, wherein the operation of a superluminal relativistic Maxwell’s demon [see: Maxwell's demon] was outlined, an intellect that could watch evolution, both of humans and the solar system, in reverse, back through the formation of the pre-sun nebula, and as such has the ability to go forward and backward in history, or if moving at the speed of light, according to Pearson, would “live in an eternal now”. [1]
Relativity
Filon's superluminal demon thought experiment may have had influence on German-born American physicist Albert Einstein, who in 1902, or possibly prior, was reading The Grammar of Science, and also conceived of his running along side a beam of light thought experiment (date), which resulted in his 1905/1916 relativity theory. [3]
Education
Filon encountered Karl Pearson while a student at University College London. He completed his BA in 1896, after which he served as Pearson’s demonstrator of applied mathematics until 1898. In 1912, Filon succeeded Pearson as Goldsmith Professor of applied mathematics and mechanics. [2]
Books
● Filon, L.N.G. (1908). An Introduction to Projective Geometry. Arnold.
● Filon, L.N.G. and Coker, E.G. (1931). A Treatise on Photo-elasticity. Cambridge University Press.
● Filon, L.N.G. (1936). A Manual of Photo-elasticity for Engineers. Cambridge University Press.
References
1. (a) Pearson, Karl. (1900). The Grammar of Science (§:Note VII: On the Reversibility of Natural Processes, pg. 540). Publisher.
(b) The Grammar of Science – Wikipedia.
2. Stigler, Stephen M. (2008). “Karl Pearson’s Theoretical Errors and the Advances They Inspired.” Statistical Science, 23(2): 261-71.
3. Clark, Ronald W. (1984). Einstein: the Life and Times (pgs. 78-79). Harper Collins.
Further reading
● Newcombe, L. (1937). “Louis Napoleon George Filon”, The University Reviews (pgs. 121-23), Volumes 9-10. Publisher.
● Broadbent, T.A.A. (1938). “Professor L.N.G. Filon, C.B.E., M.A., D.Sc, F.R.S. 1875-1937” (abs), The Mathematical Gazette, 22(248): 1-2.
● Jeffery, G.B. (1939). “Louis Napoleon George Filon”, Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society, 2(7):500-09, Jan.
