Harvey S. Leff Explained

Harvey S. Leff
Birth Date:July 24, 1937
Birth Place:Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Death Place:Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Known For:Physics, focusing on: energy, entropy, Maxwell's demon, and the foundations of thermodynamics.

Harvey S. Leff (July 24, 1937 – December 30, 2023) was an American physicist and physics teacher who is known primarily for his research and expository articles in physics, focusing on energy, entropy, Maxwell's demon, and the foundations of thermodynamics. He introduced the 'energy spreading' metaphor for entropy change.[1] [2] Leff died on December 30, 2023, at the age of 86.[3]

Career

Leff was a faculty member at the Case Institute of Technology and Case Western Reserve University, Chicago State University, Harvey Mudd College and was a scientist and energy policy analyst at the Institute for Energy Analysis at Oak Ridge Associated Universities. For most of his career, he was professor at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona. In 2010, he became a visiting scholar at Reed College.

Publications

Leff was author of a monograph on energy and entropy,[4] co-edited two editions of a book on Maxwell's demon,[5] [6] published research articles,[7] and a website on energy and entropy.[8]

Honors

Leff was a Fellow of the American Association of Physics Teachers[9] and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.[10] He was an associate editor and consulting editor for the American Journal of Physics, and was president of the American Association of Physics Teachers.[11]

References

  1. Thermodynamic entropy: The spreading and sharing of energy . 10.1119/1.18389 . 1996 . Leff . Harvey S. . American Journal of Physics . 64 . 10 . 1261–1271 . 1996AmJPh..64.1261L .
  2. Entropy, Its Language, and Interpretation . 10.1007/s10701-007-9163-3 . 2007 . Leff . Harvey S. . Foundations of Physics . 37 . 12 . 1744–1766 . 2007FoPh...37.1744L .
  3. Web site: Harvey Leff . Holman's Funeral & Cremation Service . 7 February 2024.
  4. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1145924398 Energy and Entropy: A Dynamic Duo, CRC Press, Aug 2020
  5. http://worldcat.org/oclc/50940631 Maxwell's Demon 2: Entropy, Classical and Quantum Information, Computing, Institute of Physics, Bristol, 2003. Co-editor: A. F. Rex
  6. http://worldcat.org/oclc/940922296 Maxwell's Demon: Entropy, Information, Computing, Princeton University Press and Adam Hilger/British Institute of Physics, 1990. Co-editor: A. F. Rex.
  7. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=20&q=Harvey+S.+Leff&hl=en&as_sdt=0,38 Google Scholar search for Harvey S. Leff
  8. http://energyandentropy.com All About Energy & Entropy
  9. https://www.aapt.org/Programs/awards/upload/2014-Fellows-List_Updated.pdf AAPT Fellows 2014
  10. https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=L&year=2019&unit_id=&institution= APS Fellows 2017
  11. https://aapt.org/aboutaapt/history/officers.cfm AAPT Officers, Past and Present