Badino, Massimiliano: The Odd Couple: Boltzmann, Planck, and the Application of Statistics to Physics

As it is well-known, in 1900 Planck derived the black-body distribution law by supplementing the electrodynamical analysis of the heat radiation with statistical arguments. This application of statistics was meant as an extension of Boltzmann's work in kinetic theory. But was it true? I will present an outline of Boltzmann's statistical approach to physics and a comparison with Planck's. This comparison will rely on the analysis of three different applications of statistics in Planck's papers: the derivation of the black-body distribution law, the so-called second theory and the quantum theory of the ideal gas.