H. B. Reitlinger and the origins of the Efficiency at Maximum Power formula for Heat Engines

TL;DR

This paper traces the historical development of the efficiency at maximum power formula for heat engines, revealing that Henri B. Reitlinger first proposed it in 1929, predating other known contributors.

Contribution

It uncovers the original source of the efficiency formula, showing Reitlinger's early proposal in 1929, which was previously unrecognized in the literature.

Findings

Reitlinger's 1929 work predates other known contributions.

The historical origin of the efficiency formula is clarified.

French historical texts reveal earlier proposals not widely known.

Abstract

Even if not so ancient, the history of the heat engine efficiency at maximum power expression have been yet turbulent. More than a decade after the publication of the seminal article by Curzon and Ahlborn in 1975, one's rediscovered two older works by Chambadal and Novikov, both dating from 1957. Then, some years ago, the name of Yvon arose from a textual reference to this famous relation in a conference article published in 1955. Thanks to an historical study of French written books not anymore published for a long time, and since never translated in other languages, we bring to light in this paper that this relation was actually firstly proposed by Henri B. Reitlinger in 1929.