First peerson to define work as W = F d.

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The first person to define work as W = F d is French physicist Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis, who articulated this modern statement in the early 19th century. His work established the relationship between force and the path taken, contributing significantly to the understanding of kinetic energy. Additional insights into the contributions of Coriolis, along with contemporaries like Poncelet and Navier, can be found in a 1984 article by I Grattan-Guinness. This historical context highlights the evolution of the concept of work in physics. Coriolis's definition remains foundational in the study of mechanics today.
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Please, can someone tell me who was the first person to define work as we currently use, that is, W = F d? Thank you.

mc
 
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carvajal57 said:
Please, can someone tell me who was the first person to define work as we currently use, that is, W = F d? Thank you.

mc

According the article below, it was Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis (1792-1843) who:
"The modern statement: "work is force times path" is due to French physicist Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis,[1] who gave the correct formula for change in kinetic energy associated with work[/quote]
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Work_(Physics)

The acclaimed website, MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive,
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/

has the following biography on him:
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Coriolis.html
 
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From the MacTutor biography, we learn of an article from 1984 that examines in detail the relative contributions of Poncelet, Navier and Coriolis to the concept of "work":

"I Grattan-Guinness, Work for the workers : advances in engineering mechanics and instruction in France, 1800-1830, Ann. of Sci. 41 (1) (1984), 1-33."
 

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