An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A → cyclic process comprising a sequence of → isothermal and → adiabatic expansions and compressions that bring a system back to its initial state.

Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1796-1832), a French physicist and military engineer who, in his 1824 Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire, gave the first successful theoretical account of heat engines; → cycle.