What did Carnot say about the Second Law? Available to Purchase

The science of Thermodynamics was founded by Sadi Carnot; his Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire was published in 1824. Carnot’s work was based on the incorrect principle of Conservation of Heat. The concept of entropy was first adumbrated by Rankine, in 1850, 18 years after Carnot’s death. An explicit statement of a “Second Law” was first given four years later by Clausius. It is sometimes said, nevertheless, that “Carnot knew the Second Law without knowing the First”. In this talk we will examine Carnot’s actual argument, in order to determine whether, or to what extent, Carnot “knew the Second Law”.