Hajime Inaba

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 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.