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Thermodynamics applies to a wide variety of topics in science and
engineering, especially physical chemistry, chemical engineering and
mechanical engineering.
Historically, thermodynamics developed out of a desire to increase the
efficiency and power output of early steam engines, particularly through the
work of Carnot (1824) who believed that the efficiency of heat engines was
the key that could help France win the Napoleonic Wars. The Irish-born
British physicist Lord Kelvin was the first to formulate a concise definition
of thermodynamics in 1854:
"Thermo-dynamics is the subject of the relation of heat to forces acting
between contiguous parts of bodies, and the relation of heat to electrical
agency."