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Hajime Inaba / 稲葉肇

See also Academia.edu and researchmap.

Area of Specialization

I specialize in researching the historical development of physics, particularly in the Western world from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. My main research topics are as follows:

(1) The history of statistical mechanics from the late 19th century to the early 20th century

Traditionally, the history of statistical mechanics has been centered on the kinetic theory of gases by the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906). However, I have reconstructed the making of statistical mechanics during this period from the perspective of statistical mechanics as a computational tool, focusing on the formation and inheritance process of the ensemble theory by the American physicist Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903). My book, The Making of Statistical Mechanics (Nagoya University Press, 2021; in Japanese), summarizes this achievement.

(2) The mechanical worldviews in the late 19th century

Statistical mechanics has been considered a representative tool to achieve the so-called mechanical view of nature. In the KAKENHI research project "Various Aspects of the Mechanical Worldviews in the Late Nineteenth Century" adopted from the fiscal year 2023, I aim to clarify the diversity of the mechanical worldviews by examining the ontological, epistemological, and disciplinary perspectives of the fundamental theory of statistical mechanics, i.e., classical mechanics. I will investigate how this theory was originally conceived and understood and its relationship with the mechanical worldviews.

(3) The energetic theories in the late 19th century

In the late 19th century, various positions were advocated as the counterpart of the mechanical view of nature. The energetics of Wilhelm Ostwald (1853–1932) is one of them. By examining the arguments of the energetics from the same perspective as (2) and contrasting them with the mechanical worldviews, I aim to clarify not only the characteristics of the energetics itself but also the mechanical worldviews and, ultimately, the physical worldviews of the late 19th century.

Position

• Associate Professor for History of Science at the School of Political Science and Economics, Meiji University (Tokyo).

Contact

Education

2015: Ph.D.

Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Kyoto University.
Thesis: “Historical investigations into the development of classical statistical mechanics”

2009: M. A.

Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Kyoto University.
Master's thesis: “The relationship between Gibbs' theory of thermodynamics and that of statistical mechanics”

2007: B. A.

Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Kyoto University.

Articles

• [Article] “Schlesinger's energeticism: From hypnosis to an energetic worldview,” Historia Scientiarum: International Journal of the History of Science Society of Japan 28 (2018): 36–53. [A contribution to the special issue “Energetics Revisited.”]
• [Article] “The development of ensemble theory: A new glimpse at the history of statistical mechanics,” The European Physical Journal H 40 (2015): 489-526.
• [Note] “Reading Elementary Principles: Gibbs and the origin of statistical mechanics,” Annalen der Physik 527 (2015): A102-A104.
• [Article] “The genealogies of ensemble theories and thermodynamic analogies: A study on J. Willard Gibbs' Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics,” PHS Studies, 8 (2014): 1-20. [in Japanese. English Abstract is available on KURENAI]
• [Note] “On the origin of the concept of ensemble: From Helmholtz to Boltzmann,” PHS Studies, 5 (2011): 85-95. [in Japanese]
• [Article] “Gibbs' theory of statistical mechanics as a physicochemical theory,” Kagakushi Kenkyu, 49 (2010): 1-10. [English abstract is available on CiNii]
• [Survey] “Ostwald's Energetik: In relation to the introduction of thermodynamics to physical chemistry,” PHS Studies, 4 (2010): 85-103. [in Japanese]
• [Note] “Gibbs' canonical ensemble and its foundation,” PHS Studies, 2 (2008): 87-99. [in Japanese]

Presentations (in English)

• The Tool of Sum-over-states: Research and Pedagogy in Quantum Statistical Mechanics, 1902-1944, 1st Conference of the International Academy of the History of Science, Athens, Greece, September 13, 2019.
• Schlesinger's energeticism: From hypnosis to an energetic worldview, International Workshop on the History of Energetics, Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo, March 18, 2017.
• The Reception of Ensemble Theory, 1902-1911, 2nd International Conference on the History of Physics, Echophysics, Pöllau, Austria, September 5, 2016.
• Foundational issues in the ensemble theory in the 1900s, International Conference on the History of Physics, University of Cambridge, September 4, 2014.
• The Development of the Ensemble Theory in Statistical Mechanics, 1866–1911, "LAND AHOY!" - The First Pre-Doc Colloquium of Department I, MPIWG Berlin, June 2, 2014.
• The genealogy of ensemble theories and thermodynamic analogies, Mathematics, Physics and Logic at the Crossroads: II MPIWG-Urbino Workshop, The University of Urbino, 30th October, 2013.
• Statistical mechanics and its scope in the 19th century, Continuity and Discontinuity in the Physical Sciences Since the Enlightenment: A Conference for Graduate Students and Early-Career Scholars, American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD, July 29, 2011. [peer reviewed; abstract available]
• The relationship between Gibbs' theory of thermodynamics and that of statistical mechanics, XXIII International Congress of History of Science and Technology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary, July 29, 2009. [Peer reviewed; financially supported by Kyoto University Foundation]

Organizing

• Guest editor of the special issue “Energetics Revisited” of Historia Scientiarum: International Journal of the History of Science Society of Japan 28 (2018).
• Organizer: International Workshop on the History of Energetics, Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo, March 17–18, 2017 (with Takehiko Hashimoto).

Memberships in Professional Organizations

• History of Science Society, Japan (Since 2007)
• History of Science Society (Since 2009)
• The Physical Society of Japan (Since 2010)
• Japan Association for the Contemporary and Applied Philosophy (Since 2011)