Table of Contents

Prologue: the century of science
Nineteenth-century science in context
Electromagnetism
Heat and thermodynamics
Energy and the energy principle
Atomism
The kinetic theory of gases and statistical mechanics
Fin de siècle

About the Author

Robert D. Purrington, a professor of physics at Tulane University, is coauthor of Frame of the Universe (Columbia University Press). 

Reviews

PurringtonÆs masterly survey conveys to the reader an authentic view of the development of physics in the nineteenth century, the period of the maturation of classical science. His book has also the great virtue of a balanced view of the relation of scientific ideas to the social and intellectual milieu in which they were developed.
*author of Science and the Founding Fathers: Science in the Political Thought of*

Robert PurringtonÆs book is indeed a splendid overview of physics in the nineteenth century. It is an insightful account of how physics emerged as an autonomous discipline, and an impressive account of the evolution of its conceptual foundations during the nineteenth century.
*Professor of Physics and Koret Professor of the History of Ideas, Brandeis Unive*

Those who teach the history of physics have long needed this book. Early modern physics and the eighteenth century have been well served, but the nineteenth century remained an orphan. No historian was brave enough to take on the complexities and the sheer volume of work in that period. Robert Purrington accomplishes the job superbly in clear, engaging language. He refreshes the tale of the period by showing the crucial interactions of experiment and theory without denigrating the role of either. His discussion of the changing social contexts and the philosophical influences on physicists further enriches the narrative.
*Professor of History, State University of New York at Stony Brook*