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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Referee's report by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin on a paper 'The distribution of molecular energy' by James Hopwood Jeans

Reference number: RR/15/63

Date: 09 July 1900

Description

Sectional committee: Physics and chemistry

Not recommended for for publication in Philosophical Transactions, short portions such as those marked [on the manuscript] with an 'x' might properly be added to the abstract for the Proceedings. Explains why in line 13 of the abstract the phrase 'indirect' should be deleted. Provides a quote from Maxwell's article 'The Dynamical Evidence of the Molecular Constitution of Bodies' 'Nature', XI, 1875, collected works page 433, concerning the greatest difficulty yet encountered by the molecular theory. The same subject is well treated by the author of the present paper in the first two sentences of his footnote on page two, but the author has certainly not made any step towards getting over the difficulty. In the generalized theory of temperature pages 91-93, the author gives no definition of what he means by 'temperature' and the idea of several temperatures instead of one is absolutely inconsistent with the definition of the term and is in no way helpful towards a deeper knowledge of the subject.

[Published in Philosophical Transactions A, 1901].

Endorsed on verso as received 10 July 1900.

Reference number
RR/15/63
Earliest possible date
09 July 1900
Physical description
Standardised form (type A) and note on paper
Page extent
3 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

William Thomson

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Citation

William Thomson, Referee's report by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin on a paper 'The distribution of molecular energy' by James Hopwood Jeans, 09 July 1900, RR/15/63, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/rr_15_63/referees-report-by-william-thomson-lord-kelvin-on-a-paper-the-distribution-of-molecular-energy-by-james-hopwood-jeans, accessed on 09 October 2024

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  • Referee Reports

    Date: 1832-1954

    This collection contains reports on scientific papers submitted for publication to the Royal Society. Started in 1832 when the system was formalised, it is a record of the origins of peer review publishing in practice.

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