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 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."...