The EoHT wiki: Thermodynamics Medal (proposal) is a discussion page for the proposed idea of initiating a new, yet-to-be-named "thermodynamics medal" to be awarded possibly once every yearly (or more likely in some yet unspecified interval, i.e. once every two, three, four, or five years) by the Institute of Human Thermodynamics to researchers, scientists, writers, or educators to have made a significant contribution in the field of human thermodynamics or in furthering the thermodynamical understanding of the operation of human life.

Gibbs Medal (American Chemical Society)

Gibbs Medal (The Hall of Fame For Great Americans)

Gilbert Newton Lewis Medal

Rumford Medal

Boltzmann Medal

Prigogine Medal

Kelvin Medal

Carnot Medal (Marie François Sadi Carnot)

Goethe Medal

Goethe Medal (150th Anniversary, made by Arno Breker, 1982)

Origin
The idea for the award was conceived on December 03, 2008 by American chemical engineer Libb Thims, after discovering that there was a new yearly “Prigogine Medal” award, initiated in 2004, given out for contributions in the use of evolutionary thermodynamics and Prigoginean thermodynamics in ecology or the study of ecosystems, while typing up the EoHT articles Prigogine Medal and thermodynamics awards. Hence, by parallel, there should be an award given out yearly to significant contributors in the field of the thermodynamical study of human life and operation.

Comments on
Thims then contacted, that day, IoHT member Russian physical chemist Georgi Gladyshev about the idea, and he replied “this will be very good!”. Similarly, that day, IoHT member American chemical engineer Ted Erikson commented on the idea that “it is clearly a great concept”, that “[he] is in full support”, but that he is not sure how such a project would be financed. Thims replied back with “if worse comes to worse, I could pay for it myself. However, I'm sure there are more creative ways to raise money for such a project.” Erickson later commented that he would be willing to donate $100 USD to such a cause.

On 31 Jan 2009, an EoHT user, who wishes to remain anonymous, commented to Libb Thims, via email, that “your idea of instituting an award for Human Thermodynamics is good. I think you will need to gather an amount that gets an interest of $1000 per year. You can give this award once in three years as you may not find good number of researchers in Human Thermodynamics. I will contribute $1000 if you are actually instituting this award but you will keep it confidential. But this amount is not sufficient. You need to have at least $10,000, I think.”

Award amount and substance?
The award, as a first approximation, is slated to consist of a monetary amount of $500-$1,000 USD (initial year) and a medal (gold, bronze, silver, platinum?), with a face on one side (possibly Clausius) and on the other side an inscription (or possibly a classic Carnot-style heat engine diagram), etc., on the opposite face. Other related medals, to model the new "thermodynamics medal" are shown adjacent.

Naming choice
People to name the award after (favorites bolded), that could possibly work, include (ranked by preference):

1. Clausius Medal
2. Goethe Medal (already taken)
3. C.G. Darwin Medal (already taken by his grandfather via the Darwin Medal)
4. Lewis Medal (used before)
5. Gibbs Medal (already used by ACS, 100th anniversary of award in 2011)
6. Carnot Medal (term used elsewhere)
7. Freud Medal
8. Helmholtz Medal (used multiple times elsewhere)

Other possibilities?

Gladyshev medal (although this name is not yet known enough significantly) Goethe thermodynamics medal or Goethe affinity medal

Other naming suggestions are welcome (please comment in (a) the threads below, (b) add edits to this page, or (c) via email to Libb Thims: libbthims@gmail.com.

Discussion
Goethe is, obviously, the first choice as he was the first to apply the theory of chemical affinity (now known as free energy) to the modeling of human life in 1809. This medal, however, is already in use by the Goethe Institute, among other places. [1]

Both the Lewis Medal and the Carnot Medal seem to have been used before. [2] Freud was the first to apply thermodynamics in psychology, but he mostly verbal arguments. Supposedly there are a number of “Helmholtz Medals”. [3] There seems to be at least two Kelvin Medals. [4]

With these preliminaries in place, and knowing that, via Internet and Google book searchers, there does not seem to exist a “Clausius Medal”, it would seem that the Clausius Medal might be the ideal choice? Comments and suggestions are welcome?

To note, the Darwin Medal has been awarded every even year, since 1890, by the Royal Society, for "distinction in the area of biology". [5] A related award is the Max Planck Medal, having been given by the German Physical Society since 1929, for "extrodinary work in theoretical physics". [6]

Carnot Medal?
One type of “Carnot Medal” is a now-defunct (1885-c.1904) award for best-debating given out yearly at Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley, initiated as a gift by Baron de Coubertin of Paris after his visit their, named after assassinated French president Marie François Sadi Carnot, oldest son of Hippolyte Carnot (the younger brother of thermodynamics founder Sadi Carnot). [7] Hence, the award is named after Sadi Carnot’s nephew and has nothing to do with thermodynamics.

Goethe Medal?
There is the triennial Goethe Prize (1927) of Frankfurt-am-Main, a literary award, the biennial Hanseatic Goethe Prize (1949), a literary and artistic award, and there is the yearly Goethe Medal (1955) given out by the Goethe Institute. There was also a 150th anniversary Goethe Medal (150 coins issued) made by Arno Breker in 1982. [8]

Proto-award model
Having let the idea filter for a few days, the main obstacle to implementation seems to be the act of picking people to award and, secondarily, getting people submit nominations. There are so few human thermodynamics publications, per year, of which are mostly marginal, that finding worthy individuals will be difficult. That said, to get a beta-stage award initiation process underway the act of award recognition could be a simple as doing the following process, possibly once every three years:

(a) Finding someone to award. (b) Having Libb Thims fly out to the winner with a Clausius Medal and small amount of money ($500-$1000). (c) Video record a short (less than 10-minutes) commentary speech given by the recipient. (d) Post the video-speech online. (e) Send out a News-wire about the award.

The act of medal giving would be a simple token to say thanks for your efforts. We'll have to let this sit for awhile?

References
1. Goethe Medal – Wikipedia.
2. Gilbert Newton Lewis Medal – Oregon State University.
3. Helmholtz Medal - NNDB.
4. (a) Kelvin Medal (1924) – Royal Society of Western Australia.
(b) Kelvin Medal (1994) – IOP Institute of Physics.
5. Darwin Award - Wikipedia.
6. Max Planck Medal - Wikipedia.
7. (a) Author. (1904). “The Carnot Medal”, pg. 38, Annual Report of the President, Stanford University.
(b) Author. (2002). “Pierre de Coubertin (keyword: Carnot Medal)”, basoc.org.
(c) Carnot Medal (Marie François Sadi Carnot) – Christopher Eimer: Fine Medals and Medallic Art.
8. Zavrel, John. (2007). “Homage to Goethe to the 175th Anniversary of His Death”, Meaus.com.