ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is all about understanding how energy works. It is about figuring out how heat and energy moves around, and how things like machines, engines, and even our own bodies use energy. It has been around for hundreds of years and people have been learning more and more about energy every year.
People first started learning about thermodynamics back in the 1700s when scientists started to look at how heat was produced and how it moved around. They found out that when something like a fire burns, it produces heat, and that heat then moves around until it is eventually taken away.

They also discovered that energy can be converted from one form to another. For example, heat energy can turn into kinetic energy, which is what makes things move. This understanding has been used to create things like engines that convert heat energy into motion.

In the 1800s, scientists continued to learn more about thermodynamics, and they developed equations that could explain how heat moved around. They also came up with a law called the first law of thermodynamics, which basically states that energy can't be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another.

So, the history of thermodynamics is about hundreds of years of people learning more and more about how energy works and how it can be used. The understanding of thermodynamics has been used to create things like engines and machines, and it is still a very important part of science today.