Is Thermodynamics a Science?

Thermodynamics is an odd science. Most people have only a vague notion of what it is, and I sometimes wonder if it really is a science. It came into being after we had steam engines, because people felt a need to explain just how their new engines worked. At first look, it might seem that we could derive all of thermodynamics from atomic physics. Yet we’ve never quite managed to do that. It retains a life of its own. Like Euclidean geometry, it’s an arrangement of logical deductions, resting on a few axioms — or laws.

John H. Lienhard, founding author and voice of The Engines of Our Ingenuity, is a Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and History at the University of Houston.