Celebrating Sadi ✓ Most Recent

The first explanation of the relationship between heat and work, the science that we now call “thermodynamics,” was published by the French scientist Sadi Carnot exactly 200 years ago. Carnot is world-famous but little of his life story is known, and he is often incorrectly characterized as a loner who developed his theory in isolation from the scientific community, not recognized in his lifetime. The ASHRAE Historical Committee encouraged the creation of this article to mark the bicentenary of Carnot’s original publication.