Olivier Darrigol is a Research Associate at OHST / CSTMS and an associate editor of HSNS. His book, “Atoms, Mechanics, and Probability: Ludwig Boltzmann’s Statistico-Mechanical Writings – An Exegesis” was launched last week in the United Kingdom. He is the author of several books on the history of quantum physics, electrodynamics, hydrodyamics, and optics.

Darrigol writes about the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906). The purpose of this book is to make the Boltzmann corpus more accessible to physicists, philosophers, and historians, and so give it a new life. The means are introductory biographical and historical materials, detailed and lucid summaries of every relevant publication, and a final chapter of critical synthesis. This book will help the reader cross the stylistic barrier and see how ingeniously Boltzmann combined atoms, mechanics, and probability to invent new bridges between the micro- and macro-worlds.