Boltzmann, Ludwig 1844-1906
Austrian physicist

Born in Vienna, he studied at the University of Vienna where he obtained his PhD in 1867. From 1869 he held professorships in mathematics and physics at the universities of Graz, Vienna, Munich and Leipzig, numbering Walther Nernst amongst his many students. Although his interests were diverse he is most celebrated for the application of statistical methods to physics and the relation of kinetic theory to thermodynamics. In 1868 he extended James Clerk Maxwell's theory of the velocity distribution for colliding gas molecules to derive the 'Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution'. In 1877 he presented the famous 'Boltzmann equation' which showed how increasing entropy corresponded to increasing molecular randomness. Other work dealt with electromagnetism, viscosity, and diffusion, and in 1884 he derived the law for black-body radiation found experimentally by Josef Stefan, his teacher in Vienna. Boltzmann's work came under attack from positivists in Vienna, and partly because of the unpopularity of his views, he suffered severe depression from 1900 and committed suicide.