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| Highlighted text: Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics. |
Well, that's a grim opener, but who were these guys and what's their story? Depression seems to be the answer.
Ludwig Boltzmann (1844 – 1906)
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| Ludwig Boltzmann and his Entropy Formula |
In 1906, Boltzmann's deteriorating mental condition forced him to resign his position, and his symptoms indicate he experienced what would today be diagnosed as bipolar disorder. Four months later he died by suicide on 5 September 1906, by hanging himself while on vacation with his wife and daughter in Duino, near Trieste (then Austria). He is buried in the Viennese Zentralfriedhof. His tombstone bears the inscription of Boltzmann's entropy formula. - Wikipedia
Note that while he was on vacation with his wife and daughter, he only hanged himself, not his whole family.
Paul Ehrenfest (1880 – 1933) |
| Paul Ehrenfest |
Ehrenfest, a gifted extrovert from Vienna, was highly respected by his colleagues. Some thought him the conscience and driving force of international theoretical physics. He had contacts everywhere. But all the while he suffered from increasing depression, his private life was in turmoil, and he told Goudsmit and others that he was planning to kill himself. Six months after writing the letter, he did just that, after first taking the life of his youngest son, who was afflicted with Down syndrome. - Physics Today
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