The Legacy of Tatjana Afanassjewa

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Tatiana Afanassjewa’s Life and Forgotten Legacy

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Tatiana Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa: No Talent for Subservience

      • Margriet van der Heijden

      Pages 3-28

   3. Intuition, Understanding, and Proof: Tatiana Afanassjewa on Teaching and Learning Geometry

      • Marianna Antonutti Marfori

      Pages 29-54

   4. Afanassjewa and the Foundations of Thermodynamics

      • Jos Uffink, Giovanni Valente

      Pages 55-82

3. The Ehrenfests’ Work on the Foundations of Statistical Mechanics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 83-83

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   2. Ehrenfest and Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa on Why Boltzmannian and Gibbsian Calculations Agree

      • Charlotte Werndl, Roman Frigg

      Pages 85-99

   3. Ehrenfest and Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa on the Ergodic Hypothesis

      • Patricia Palacios

      Pages 101-120

   4. The Ehrenfests’ Use of Toy Models to Explore Irreversibility in Statistical Mechanics

      • Joshua Luczak, Lena Zuchowski

      Pages 121-137

4. Translations From German and Dutch

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 139-139

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   2. Translation from German: Foundations of Thermodynamics 1925 and 1956

      • Marina Baldissera Pacchetti

      Pages 141-179

   3. Translation from Dutch: Papers on the Pedagogy of Mathematics

      • Pauline van Wierst

      Pages 181-198

This book presents a collection of essays that explore the life and works of Tatjana Afanassjewa (1876–1964), a Russian–Dutch physicist–mathematician. Readers will discover a scientist whose work on the foundations of thermodynamics significantly influenced the field itself as well as the philosophy of physics. This book highlights the philosophical consequences of her work in physics and mathematics and discusses historical aspects of her writings on the foundations of physics. In addition, it features English translations and critical reviews of key selections from her texts.

First and foremost, the book highlights the numerous contributions that Afanassjewa made to the field. In particular, the authors examine her work on the foundations of thermodynamics and statistical physics, starting in the 1920s and extending to 1956, well after the untimely death of her husband in 1933. They also explore her almost entirely forgotten work on the didactics of mathematics. In addition,they discuss her influential collaboration with her husband, the Austrian physicist Paul Ehrenfest (1880–1933).

The portrait that emerges is that of a highly original physicist and mathematician, whose legacy continues to influence scientists and philosophers today and whose lesser-known works deserve more attention than they have received. Readers will find a rich body of work that continues to this day to yield insights into the foundations of physics and mathematics.

• Foundations of Physics
• Pedagogy of Mathematics
• History of Science
• Irreversibility
• Tatjana Afanassjewa
• Thermodynamics
• The Principle of Similitude
• Didactics of mathematics
• Paul Ehrenfest
• Statistical mechanics

• Department of Philosophy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

  Jos Uffink

• Mathematics Department, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

  Giovanni Valente

• Department of Philosophy, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

  Charlotte Werndl

• Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

  Lena Zuchowski

Jos Uffink is a Professor of the Philosophy of Physics at the Philosophy Department, University of Minnesota. His main interests are in the philosophy and foundations of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, and probability theory.


Giovanni Valente is an Associate Professor of Logic and the Philosophy of Science at the Mathematics Department, Politecnico di Milano. His main research focus is on the philosophy and foundations of physics. In particular, he deals with the interpretation of quantum probability, issues of causality, ontology and symmetry breaking in relativistic quantum field theory, and the emergence of irreversibility in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.


Charlotte Werndl is a Professor of the Philosophy of Science at the Department of Philosophy, University of Salzburg, Austria, and a Visiting Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics, UK. Her research explores the foundations of physics (in particular, statistical mechanics), the philosophy of climate science, evidence and the philosophy of statistics, and the general philosophy of science (in particular, determinism and underdetermination).


Lena Zuchowski is a Lecturer in the Philosophy of Science at the Philosophy Department, University of Bristol. Her research interests include scientific modeling; the methodologies of geomorphology and criminology; the foundations of randomness, chaos, and complexity theory; the philosophy of Poincaré; computing in science; and the ethics and political philosophy of Hannah Arendt.

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