Editing Entropy (section)

== Etymology ==
In 1865, Clausius named the concept of "the differential of a quantity which depends on the configuration of the system", ''[[wikt:entropy|entropy]]'' ({{lang|de|Entropie}}) after the Greek word for 'transformation'.<ref name="Gil399">{{cite book |last=Gillispie |first=Charles Coulston |author-link1=Charles Coulston Gillispie |title=The Edge of Objectivity: An Essay in the History of Scientific Ideas |url=https://archive.org/details/edgeofobjectivit0000gill |url-access=registration |year=1960 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-02350-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/edgeofobjectivit0000gill/page/399 399] |quote=Clausius coined the word entropy for <math>S</math>: "I prefer going to the ancient languages for the names of important scientific quantities, so that they may mean the same thing in all living tongues. I propose, accordingly, to call <math>S</math> the entropy of a body, after the Greek word 'transformation'. I have designedly coined the word entropy to be similar to 'energy', for these two quantities are so analogous in their physical significance, that an analogy of denomination seemed to me helpful."}}</ref> He gave "transformational content" ({{lang|de|Verwandlungsinhalt}}) as a synonym, paralleling his "thermal and ergonal content" ({{lang|de|Wärme- und Werkinhalt}}) as the name of ''U'', but preferring the term ''entropy'' as a close parallel of the word ''energy'', as he found the concepts nearly "analogous in their physical significance".<ref name=Gil399/> This term was formed by replacing the root of {{lang|grc|ἔργον}} ('ergon', 'work') by that of {{lang|grc|[[wikt:τροπή|τροπή]]}} ('tropy', 'transformation').<ref name = "Clausius German"/>

In more detail, Clausius explained his choice of "entropy" as a name as follows:<ref name="Cooper">{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Leon N. |title=An Introduction to the Meaning and Structure of Physics |date=1968 |publisher=Harper |page=331}}</ref>
<blockquote>
I prefer going to the ancient languages for the names of important scientific quantities, so that they may mean the same thing in all living tongues. I propose, therefore, to call ''S'' the ''entropy'' of a body, after the Greek word "transformation". I have designedly coined the word ''entropy'' to be similar to energy, for these two quantities are so analogous in their physical significance, that an analogy of denominations seems to me helpful.
</blockquote>
[[Leon Cooper]] added that in this way "he succeeded in coining a word that meant the same thing to everybody: nothing".<ref name = "Cooper" />