In existographies, Michael Macrakis (1924-2001) (CR:5) was a Greek-born American engineer and physicist noted, in economic thermodynamics, for his 1997 Scarcity’s Ways, wherein he seems to present a quantum mechanical, statistical mechanics, and thermodynamics reductionism of economics.
Overview
In the 1970s, Macrakis began reading reading up on economics, capital theory, and energy policy; amid this, he was puzzled about the legitimacy of irreversibility, the three body problem, and the jump from microscopic thermodynamics to macroscopic thermodynamics.
In 1997, Macrakis published his Scarcity’s Ways: the Origins of Capital: a Critical Essay on Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics and Economics, wherein he defined “capital” as a physical or biological engine that processes material and transforms energy in a non-equilibrium thermal environment, is discussed in the context of thermodynamics, evolutionary biology, and the origin of life. The content of the book, based on keyword predominance, is focused on: economics, energy, entropy, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics. He discusses concepts such as the Carnot cycle and thermodynamicists such as Constantin Caratheodory, Willard Gibbs, to cite a few examples.
Greek font
In 1992, Macrakis founded the Greek Font Society (Ѻ); this is evidenced by the fact that he titles his thermodynamics chapters as follows:
which is the using the Thomson-Maxwell-Tait Greek code shorthand for the subject of thermodynamics (see: θ∆ics)., before it was called thermodynamics.
Education
Macrakis completed his undergraduate degree in electrical and mechanical engineering at the National Technical University of Athens in circa 1951. Thereafter, he moved to the United States completing his MS in electrical engineering at MIT and PhD in applied physics, with a dissertation on “Backscattering Cross-Section of Slotted Cylinders”, in 1959, at Harvard University. [2]
References
1. Macrakis, Michael S. (1997). Scarcity’s Ways: the Origins of Capital: a Critical Essay on Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics and Economics (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science) (§:4: Thermodynamics (ΘΔcs), pgs. 93-). Springer.
2. Barker, Nicolas. (2002). “Michael S. Macrakis” Obituaries, News: The Independent, Jan. 07.
Further reading
● Fleming, Robin. (c.2010). “The Making of Lilly Macrakis” (Ѻ), Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University.
External links
● Macrakis, Michael S. – WorldCat Identities.
● Michael Stavros Macrakis – Mathematics Genealogy Project.
