Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann was an Austrian physicist and philosopher whose greatest achievement was in the development of statistical mechanics. The goal of his mechanic was to explain and predict how the properties of atoms determine the physical properties of matter.
When he first proposed his theory, he stirred up controversy by proposing scientists could make intelligent guesses about the behavior of atoms. He tried to explain thermodynamics by using statistical methods, which was against the long-standing trend of assuming absolute fixed laws.
One of his signature quotes is “If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. Bring forward what is true. Write it so that it is clear”.
He is often called the “Genius of disorder”, and that is probably the best name to describe him. Nowadays, many institutes try to honor him and his name. And not all of them are in the field of physics. One of those is the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights in Vienna.
