The French physicist, chemist, and historian of science Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem published work in thermodynamics, physical chemistry, hydrodynamics, elasticity, electricity and magnetism, and the history and philosophy of science.

Pierre Duhem was born on June 9, 1861, in Paris. He entered the École Normale in 1882 and qualified for a teaching certificate in 1885. His first published paper on physical chemistry appeared in 1884. That year he also presented a doctoral dissertation in physics, which attacked the "maximum-work principle" of Marcelin Berthelot, a powerful figure in the French academic world. Berthelot succeeded in having the thesis rejected and is reported to have said that Duhem would never teach in Paris. The prediction came true.

Duhem stayed at the École Normale for another two years and in 1888 presented a doctorate in mathematics on the theory of magnetism. Meanwhile he published his first thesis and 30 articles on physics and chemistry. In 1887, he...