Clausius’ Disgregation: A Conceptual Relic that Sheds Light on the Second Law

The present work analyzes the cognitive process that led Clausius towards the translation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics into mathematical expressions. We show that Clausius’ original formal expression of the Second Law was achieved by making extensive use of the concept of disgregation, a quantity which has subsequently disappeared from the thermodynamic language. Our analysis demonstrates that disgregation stands as a crucial logical step of such process and sheds light on the comprehension of such fundamental relation. The introduction of entropy—which occurred three years after the first formalization of the Second Law—was aimed at making the Second Law exploitable in practical contexts. The reasons for the disappearance of disgregation, as well as of other “pre-modern” quantities, from the thermodynamics language are discussed.