In thermodynamics, Robin Giles (c.1935-) is an Irish mathematical physicist noted for his 1964 Mathematical Foundations of Thermodynamics, wherein he covers mathematical thermodynamics, using some type of logic method, and also devotes a chapter to relativistic thermodynamics.
Overview
In 1955, Giles was assigned to teach thermodynamics or given a “teaching assignment”, during which he wrote a paper (being a condensed form of chanters 1-4 of his 1964 book); the paper was sent to Edward Guggenheim in Dec 1957 for review. Guggenheim’s comments induced Giles to write a chapter on his concept of a “mechanical state” (chapter 5 of book). Doing this gave Giles the idea to make the mathematics involved “fully rigorous” and with the inclusion of relativistic thermodynamics, the 1964 Mathematical Foundations of Thermodynamics resulted, wherein he attempts to present the “logical structure” and “rules of interpretation” of physical meaning assigned to theoretical terms. The book built on feedback from Keith Burton. [1]
In 1966, Keith Burton, in his “Constructive Thermodynamics”, gave commentary on Giles’ logic model. [2]
Education
In 1964, Giles was associated with the department of natural philosophy at the University of Glasgow. More recently, Giles seems to have been associated with the physics department of Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Scotland. [4]
Quotes
The following are noted quotes:
“There exist an additive function of state S, called the entropy, and a set of additive functions of state, called components of the content, such that, for any states a and b, a→b if, and only if S(a) S(b), and Q(a) = Q(b) for every component of content Q.”
— Robin Giles (1964), Mathematical Foundations of Thermodynamics; cited by Norman Dolloff (1975) [3]
References
1. Giles, Robin. (1964). Mathematical Foundations of Thermodynamics (Ѻ) (Amz) (Preface, pgs. xi-xiii). Elsevier, 2013.
2. Burton, W. Keith. (1966). “Constructive Thermodynamics” (Ѻ), Contributions to Mathematical Logic, Proceedings of the Logic Colloquium, Hanover; in: Contributions to Mathematical Logic (editor: Lev Beklemishev) (pgs. 75-). Elsevier, 2000.
3. (a) Giles, Robin. (1964). Mathematical Foundations of Thermodynamics (Amz) (pg. 5, 59). Pergamon Press.
(b) Dolloff, Norman H. (1975). Heat Death and the Phoenix: Entropy, Order, and the Future of Man (pgs. 50-51). Exposition Press.
4. (a) Note: not to be confused with mathematician Robin Giles, the former dean of sciences (Ѻ) at Brandon University, and presently is professor emeritus (Ѻ) of the physics and astronomy department.
(b) Giles, Brandon. (2016). "Email Communication with Libb Thims", Jan 5.
