1. Josiah Willard Gibbs, Jr. (1839-1903)
American Physicist, Engineer, Chemist, Mathematician.

2. Josiah Willard Gibbs, Jr. (1839-1903)
American Physicist, Engineer, Chemist, Mathematician.
Obviously, Josiah Willard Gibbs shouldn’t be confused with
Special Agent
Leroy Jethro Gibbs
of “NCIS”!!
(Actor Mark Harmon)

3. Josiah Willard Gibbs, Jr. (1839-1903)
American Physicist, Engineer
Chemist, Mathematician.
One of the Greatest Scientists of the 19th Century!! A Genius!!
Gibbs as a
young man
Made Major Contributions to:
Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, Chemistry
(Chemical Reaction Theory!!), Math & Mathematical
Physics (1st to develop Vector Mathematics, especially
Vector Calculus!!).
First to formulate the Thermodynamic Equilibrium of a
system in terms of energy & entropy.
First to develop the theories of Chemical Equilibrium,
& Equilibrium Between Phases (Gibb’s Free Energy…)

4. “The greatest mind in American history.”
Physicists think of Gibbs as a Physicist.
Chemists think of him as a Chemist.
Founded a field overlapping physics & chemistry.
Physicists call it “Chemical Physics”
Chemists call it “Physical Chemistry”
Einstein called Gibbs
“The greatest mind in American history.”
His thermodynamics & statistical mechanics studies were the foundation for many of Einstein’s discoveries.
He is known as “The Father of Vector Analysis” (formal study of vectors in math).
He’s largely responsible for widespread use of vectors in physics, replacing the quaternions that W.R. Hamilton had earlier developed.
Gibbs in his 30’s
Gibbs in
middle age

5. 1st Engineering PhD ever granted
Feb. 11, 1839: Born in New Haven, Connecticut. His father was a Professor of Sacred Literature at Yale Divinity School.
Attended Yale. Got prizes in Math & Latin.
1858: Received BS in Physics from Yale.
1863: Received Engineering PhD from Yale.
1st Engineering PhD ever granted
by a US university!
Tutored at Yale: 2 years Latin & 1 year "natural philosophy.“ : Studied in Europe.
: Paris : Heidelberg & Berlin. Worked with Helmholtz!
1869: Returned to Yale as a faculty member.
Gibbs as an
older man

6. 1st Professorship in Mathematical
1871: Yale appointed him
Professor of Mathematical Physics
(Note: He was only 32 years old!) This was the
1st Professorship in Mathematical
Physics in the US!
Curiously, for 9 years (!) this was
a job for ZERO PAY!!
He accepted a job with no salary because he was “not in need of money”!
Yale didn’t want to pay him because, when he was hired, he hadn’t published anything!
1890: Johns Hopkins U. (Baltimore) offered him $3,000/yr. This caused Yale to offer him (only!) $2,000/yr to stay.
Stayed at Yale until his death in 1903.
Gibbs as an
older man

7. Some J. Willard Gibbs Accomplishments
“Father” of physical chemistry
Coined the term 'enthalpy'
Gibbs free energy
Gibbs entropy
Vector analysis
Gibbs-Helmholtz equation
Gibbs-Duhem equation
Gibbs algorithm
Gibbs distribution

8. Some J. Willard Gibbs Accomplishments
“Father” of physical chemistry
Coined the term 'enthalpy'
Gibbs free energy
Gibbs entropy
Vector analysis
Gibbs-Helmholtz equation
Gibbs-Duhem equation
Gibbs algorithm
Gibbs distribution
Gibbs state
Gibbs phenomenon
Gibbs paradox
Gibbs phase rule
Gibbs-Thomson effect
Gibbs isotherm
Gibbs-Donnan effect
The Gibbs lemma

9. Gibbs’ Paradox
Initially, it was a mystery worthy of Leroy Jethro Gibbs & his fantastic NCIS detective team!
But, instead of waiting for the solution until 21st Century detectives & technology could solve it, it was solved by the 19th Century scientist J. Willard Gibbs himself in a manner that, in retrospect, gives us somewhat of a “preview” of 20th Century Quantum Mechanics!