Constantin Carathéodory Symposium on Thermodynamics

Thessaloniki - Stagira - Alexandroupolis - Nea Vyssa, Greece

July 10 - 15, 2023

Celebrating 150 years from the birth of Constanin Carathéodory

 

Constantin Carathéodory Symposium 

 

2023 marks 150 years since the birth of Constantin Caratheodory, the founder of the axiomatic formulation of thermodynamics and calculus of variations, among other major achievements in mathematics and engineering sciences. 

To celebrate the 150 years from his birth, a group of scientists and engineers, all influenced by the application of thermodynamics on the behavior of materials, will first gather at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for a symposium on the application of thermodynamics on complex material behavior. Constantin Caratheodory is considered the initiator and one of the great supporters of the foundation of the AUTh and it is most appropriate that such a symposium will start in Thessaloniki.

The participants of the symposium will then spend a day at Stagira, the birthplace of Aristotle, discussing the implications of the second law of thermodynamics in an actual peripatetic discussion at the ancient excavation site of Stagira.

The participants will then move to Alexandroupolis, a modern port city next to the ancient city of Abdera, the birthplace of Democritus, for a continuation of the dialectic discussions on thermodynamics, ending at Nea Vyssa, where a museum has recently been established honoring the Caratheodory family.

It is noticeable that among many prominent names in the Caratheodory family, Professor John Argyris, one of the founders of the computational Finite Element Methods (FEM), is a part the same family tree (he is the nephew of Constantin), and next year is 110 years from his birth. 

Constantin  Carathéodory (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Καραθεοδωρήs, romanized: Konstantinos Karatheodoris; 13 September 1873 – 2 February 1950) was a Greek mathematician who spent most of his professional career in Germany. He made significant contributions to real and complex analysis, the calculus of variations, and measure theory. He also created an axiomatic formulation of thermodynamics. Carathéodory is considered one of the greatest mathematicians of his era and the most renowned Greek mathematician since antiquity.