In thermodynamics, Eric Mendoza (1919-2007), commonly cited as E. Mendoza, was a British physicist notable for being the editor of the popular 1960 Dover edition of Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire and other Papers on the Second Law of Thermodynamics by E. Clapeyron and R. Clausius, in which he penned an introduction to the subject. [1] Mendoza also collaborated with Robert Fox in the 1986 more exhaustive critical edition of the surviving manuscripts surrounding Sadi Carnot’s famous 1824 memoir Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire (Réflexions sur la Puissance Motrice du Feu). [2]
Education
Mendoza graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1940 with a degree in natural sciences tripos. In the early 1960s, Mendoza was a professor at Manchester University involved in low temperature physics work. [3]
References
1. Mendoza, Eric. (1960). “Introduction” (section) in Carnot, Sadi. (1824). “Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire and on Machines Fitted to Develop that Power.” Paris: Chez Bachelier, Libraire, Quai Des Augustins, No. 55. (1960, Dover edition).
2. Fox, Robert. (1986). Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire: a Critical Edition with the Surviving Scientific Manuscripts (Eric Mendoza, 8+ pgs.). Manchester University Press.
3. Anon. (2007). “Professor Eric Mendoza (1919-2007): Physicist involved in low-temperature physics and later develoing aids for the Israeli Army”, Times Online Obituary, Mar 19.
Further reading
● Mendoza, Eric. (1981). “The Life and Work of Sadi Carnot”, The British Journal for the History of Science, 14: 75-78.
