Abstract
THE question raised by Dr. Riabouchinsky (NATURE, July 29, p. 591) belongs rather to the logic than to the use of the principle of similitude, with which I was mainly concerned (NATURE, March 18, p. 66). It would be well worthy of further discussion. The conclusion that I gave follows on the basis of the usual Fourier equations for conduction of heat, in which heat and temperature are regarded as sui generis. It would indeed be a paradox if the further knowledge of the nature of heat afforded by molecular theory put us in a worse position than before in dealing with a particular problem. The solution would seem to be that the Fourier equations embody something as to the nature of heat and temperature which is ignored in the alternative argument of Dr. Riabouchinsky.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
RAYLEIGH The Principle of Similitude. Nature 95, 644 (1915). https://doi.org/10.1038/095644b0
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/095644b0
This article is cited by
-
The changing role of base units within the revised SI: an opportunity to take dimensional analysis back to its roots
Accreditation and Quality Assurance (2016)
-
Theory change as dimensional change: conceptual spaces applied to the dynamics of empirical theories
Synthese (2013)
-
Dimensionless cosmology
Astrophysics and Space Science (2012)
-
Self-similarity in ultrafast nonlinear optics
Nature Physics (2007)
-
Il valore della analisi dimensionale
Rendiconti del Seminario Matematico e Fisico di Milano (1960)
