FOREWORD 





These volumes have been prepared with a two-fold purpose, — 

 to honor the memory of J. Willard Gibbs, and to meet what is 

 believed to be a real need. They are designed to aid and sup- 

 plement a careful study of the original text of Gibbs' writings 

 and not, in any sense, to make such a study unnecessary. 



The writing and printing of this commentary have been 

 carried out under the auspices of Yale University, and have 

 been financed in part from University funds and in part by 

 generous contributions received from Professor Irving Fisher 

 of Yale, to whom credit is also due for having conceived and 

 initiated the movement for a memorial to Willard Gibbs of 

 which this commentary is the direct and, thus far, the principal 

 result. 



In January, 1927, an informal meeting was held of members 

 of the Yale faculty interested in the creation of such a memorial. 

 The proposal to publish a commentary on Gibbs' writings met 

 with favor, and a committee was appointed to study the matter. 

 After an extended investigation, in the course of which per- 

 sonal opinions were obtained from a large number of authori- 

 ties, both in this country and abroad, on the desirability of such 

 a commentary and on various questions of policy, the committee 

 reported favorably, and was thereupon instructed to carry 

 the plan into effect. Definite arrangements were completed 

 in February, 1929, and work began during that year, but it 

 was not until four years later that the manuscript of both 

 volumes was ready for the press. 



Each of the two volumes deals with the portion of Gibbs' 

 writings contained in the like-numbered volume of The Col- 

 lected Works of J. Willard Gibbs. Volume I, "Thermody- 

 namics" is essentially interpretative and explanatory, but in- 

 cludes a discussion of recent developments concerning Gibbs' 

 thermodynamic principles and many examples, drawn from the 

 modem literature, of their application to concrete problems. 



