The rapid arrival of Josiah Willard Gibbs's \textit{Elementary principles in statistical mechanics} in European university libraries (Q6839745)

The text \textit{Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics} by the American mathematician Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839--1903) was published simultaneously in London and New York in 1902. Previous literature has attempted to trace the reception in Europe of Gibbs's ideas on statistical mechanics, and has concluded that its early uptake was limited, perhaps because of its abstract nature and its lack of resonance with European work in theoretical physics. The paper under review addresses the material circulation of Gibbs's book, rather than its intellectual reception. It carefully traces the arrival of copies of the book in a number of European (mainly university) libraries, and concludes that by the summer of 1902, Gibbs's book was widely available in Europe, and therefore that lack of access was not a factor in the limited uptake of his ideas. The paper also features a biographical sketch of Gibbs, and some brief reflections on his scientific work.