For every 100 U. S. citizens who have heard of Thomas Alva Edison, it would be hard to find one who has heard of Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839-1903). Some years ago, however, a gathering of British scientists spouting learned chitchat in a cafe voted Gibbs no less than the greatest U. S. scientist ever.
A lifelong bachelor, Gibbs was a quiet, modest man. At Yale, where he did his major work, most of the students not only did not know he was a great man ; they did not even know he existed. His colleagues...
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