Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot (1 June 1796 - 24 August 1832) was a French military engineer who, in his 1824 "Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire", gave the first successful theoretical account of heat engines, now known as the Carnot cycle, thereby laying the foundations of the second law of thermodynamics. He is often described as the "Father of thermodynamics", being responsible for such concepts as Carnot efficiency, Carnot theorem, Carnot heat engine, and others. Wikipedia, Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot
In 1824, a young French military engineer named Sadi Carnot published a modest 118-page book, selling it for three francs along the banks of the Seine.
He died of cholera a few years later, largely unnoticed.
From that modest work emerged thermodynamics - one of the deepest frameworks in physics.
It stands as one of the rare examples in the history of science where an engineer made a profound, fundamental contribution to physical theory, rather than theory guiding engineering.
Sometimes, understanding nature begins not with equations, but with the question: How efficient can a machine ever be?
See Also
Carnot Cycle
First Law of Thermodynamics
LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
Laws of Thermodynamics
Second Law of Thermodynamics
thermodynamics
Third Law of Thermodynamics
Wavefunction
