Gibbs Free Energy, named after physicist and chemist Willard Gibbs, was discovered concurrently by the American Gibbs (in our familiar timeline) and Japanese scientist, Matsumoto Yousuke, in the mid-1800s. This discovery had a profound impact in scientific circles and influenced the development of different types of energy.
Originally, both Gibbs and Matsumoto conceptualized Free Energy as a lens to view non-chemical energy systems, incorporating elements from information theory to describe the degree of order, reversibility, and entropy in various phenomena.
Key differences between Gibbs Free Energy in this timeline versus our own include:
Gibbs Free Energy was the subject of intense study by the international scientific community in this alternate timeline, leading to its formalization and wider adoption in the latter half of the 19th century. This discovery, along with parallel work in other branches of thermodynamics by scientists in various countries, played a pivotal role in further understanding the nature of energy and its transformations in physical and chemical systems.
However, unlike in our world, in this universe, the practical engineering applications of Gibbs Free Energy were not immediately apparent or well understood. For many years, engineers and technologists sought ways to apply this concept to real-world problems in areas such as machinery, chemical processing, and computer science.
Despite facing initial challenges, eventually, engineers and scientists found ways to harness the potential of Gibbs Free Energy in areas such as thermodynamic cycles, renewable energy sources, and microscopic mechanical work. This led to new insights in various fields, allowing them to create machines with greater efficiency, develop synthetic materials with unique properties, and optimize communications networks using principles inspired by Gibbs' work.
In this alternate timeline, Gibbs Free Energy stands as a testament to the collaborative efforts of scientists across the globe and remains a cornerstone concept in the physical sciences, continuously shaping the development of emerging technologies. Although its practical implications took longer to emerge compared to our familiar timeline, it remains a critical inspiration for innovations in engineering and beyond.
