English

A Note on Fourier and the Greenhouse Effect

History and Philosophy of Physics 2015-10-20 v2 Popular Physics

Abstract

Joseph Fourier's discovery of the greenhouse effect is discussed and is compared to the modern conception of the greenhouse effect. It is confirmed that what Fourier discovered is analogous to the modern concept of the greenhouse effect. However, the modern concept of the greenhouse effect is found to be based on a paradoxical analogy to Fourier's greenhouse work and so either Fourier's greenhouse work, the modern conception of the greenhouse effect, or the modern definition of heat is incorrect. The solution to this problem is not feigned to be given here.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1510.02503,
  title  = {A Note on Fourier and the Greenhouse Effect},
  author = {Joseph E. Postma},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1510.02503},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

27 pages, 5 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-22T11:16:10.211Z