User:Spud Gun/SklogWiki

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SklogWiki logo

Ludwig Boltzmann's grave, with S= k log W seen at the top.

1 Background
2 Origins
3 Context
4 External links

[edit] Background

SklogWiki is a wiki for the thermodynamics, statistical mechanics and computer simulation of materials community. SklogWiki derives its name from the famous equation:

$\left.S\right.=k \log W$

which relates the entropy to the number of microstates corresponding to the observed thermodynamic macrostate. $k$ (in modern times usually written as k_B) is the Boltzmann constant. This equation is engraved at the top of Boltzmann's headstone at the Vienna Zentralfriedhof.

The symbols,

$\left. \right. \Theta \Delta^{cs}$

is the short-hand used by James Clerk Maxwell for the word thermodynamics.

[edit] Origins

SklogWiki is hosted and maintained by the Theoretical Physical Chemistry Group of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spanish national research council) 'CSIC'. The initiative for creating SklogWiki was partly financed by the MOSSNOHO program. SklogWiki was started by the professional scientist Dr. Carl McBride.

[edit] Context

It is one of the surprisingly few scientific wiki in existence. This sparsity of scientific wiki was highlighted in a recent article in The Register (Scientists shun Web 2.0):

"Science publishers' efforts to have the research community sup the Web 2.0 Kool-Aid have failed, and scientists have given 
 a resounding thumbs down to a gamut of crowd-tapping initiatives, showgoers at SXSW heard on Saturday.
 A panel of science web publishers said scientists had consistently shunned wikis, tagging, and social networks, 
 and have even proven  reticent to leave comments on web pages."...