Typed Letter Signed Paul by Samuelson Paul (1 results)

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. 4 pp. Two horizontal creases. Very Good. The photos show the entire letter. James Serrin had written to Paul Samuelson on August 4, 1987. This letter is Samuelson's second reply to Serrin, in which Samuelson answers a number of questions Serrin had asked. Paul Samuelson needs no introduction, but his lifelong interest in thermodynamics and its applicability to economics should be mentioned. This interest began with Edwin Bidwell Wilson, a student of J. Willard Gibbs. Wilson in turn was a teacher of Samuelson. A good article on Wilson's influence of Samuelson is Roger E. Backhouse, Revisiting Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis, Journal of Economic Literature Vol. 53, 2015, pp. 326-350. Backhouse writes that Wilson's "importance to Samuelson and hence to Foundations [Samuelson's 1947 book Foundations of Economic Analysis] cannot be overstated." If you go to the website of the "MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive", you will find a detailed account of Serrin's work in mathematics, including applied mathematics. Quoting from Serrin's obituary: "Serrin was known throughout the world for his fundamental research on the properties of basic mathematical models for the flow of gases and liquids, and for the mechanical and thermodynamical behavior of materials." Serrin was the third recipient of the George David Birkhoff prize in applied mathematics for "his fundamental contributions to the theory of nonlinear partial differential equations, especially his work on existence and regularity theory for nonlinear elliptic equations, and applications of his work to the theory of minimal surfaces in higher dimensions." That Samuelson would have communicated with Serrin about thermodynamics should not be a surprise, nor that Serrin would have taken Samuelson seriously. Signed by Author(s).