Abstract
This paper studies J.D. van der Waals's thesis in the light of his own remark that he set out to determine the “molecular pressure” in Laplace's theory of capillarity. Van der Waals is reviwed as working in the tradition of mechanical explanation that goes back directly to Newton. The influence of Clausius is also traced, but emphasis is placed on the different uses to which Clausius and Van der Waals put the virial theorem. The status of molecular theory in 1873 is analyzed.
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