ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the concept of temperature, an idea which is at the very heart of thermodynamics. Indeed a definition which is often given of thermodynamics is that it is the study of the equilibrium properties of large-scale systems in which temperature is an important variable. The system and the surroundings are separated by a boundary or wall and they may, in general, exchange energy and matter, depending on the nature of the wall. The degree of isolation from external influences can vary over a very wide range and it is possible to imagine walls where the isolation is complete. Finally, the chapter also provides an overview of this book. The book shows that temperature defined according to the ideal gas scale has a fundamental significance in thermodynamics and in fact is identical to the temperature T on the absolute thermodynamic temperature scale.
