François Massieu and the thermodynamic potentials

Abstract

Abstract The thermodynamic potentials have first been introduced in 1869 by Francois Massieu under the name of “fonctions caracteristiques” in two short articles published in the Comptes rendus de l'Academie des sciences. Motivated by applications to thermal engines, he showed how such a single function encompasses all properties of a fluid, linking its equation of state to its thermal properties. The conceptual interest of Massieu's functions was acknowledged many decades later.