| 1870 | works |
| p.24 | 20645 | Heat is a state of vibration, not a substance | |
| Full Idea: We consider heat not as a substance but as a state of vibration. | |||
| From: James Joule (works [1870]), quoted by Peter Watson - Convergence 01 'Nature's' | |||
| A reaction: The puzzle is that giving accurate accounts of vibrations, heat and movement require a quantitative substance, energy. But all we have here is movement, and the denial of a substance. Energy is 'nature's currency system'. |
| p.245 | 20972 | Joule showed that energy converts to heat, and heat to energy | |
| Full Idea: James Joule established the equivalence of heat and mechanical energy, in the sense of showing that a specific amount of heat will always be produced by the expenditure of a given amount of energy, and vice versa. | |||
| From: report of James Joule (works [1870]) by David Papineau - Thinking about Consciousness App 4.2 | |||
| A reaction: This was a major step towards the law of conservation of energy. |