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American mathematical physicist J. Willard Gibbs died in 1903.

Gibbs' most celebrated contributions were in the field of thermodynamics, particularly concerning the phase rule, chemical potential, and Gibbs free energy—a concept named after him. The Gibbs free energy is particularly critical in predicting the direction of chemical reactions and phase changes. His book, "Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics," laid the foundation for modern statistical mechanics.

Maxwell's sketch of the lines of constant temperature and pressure, made in preparation for his construction of a solid model based on Gibbs's definition of a thermodynamic surface for water (see Maxwell's thermodynamic surface) James Clerk Maxwell (1831 – 1879) - P. M. Harman (ed.), The Scientific Letters and Papers of James Clerk Maxwell, vol. 3, 1874-1879, (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 232, plate IV. J. C. Maxwell's sketch of the thermodynamic surface for a water-like substance, based on a theoretical construct proposed by J. W. Gibbs. The curves are "isothermals and isopiestics drawn by help of the Sun."
Portrait of American mathematical physicist J. Willard Gibbs, taken about 1895 Photograph taken around 1895. According to his student Lynde Wheeler, of the existing portraits, this is the most faithful to Gibbs's kindly habitual expression. Unknown author - Scanned from the frontispiece for Raymond J. Seeger, Men of Physics: J. Willard Gibbs, American Mathematical Physicist par excellence, (Oxford and New York: Pergamon Press, 1974). Used also as the frontispiece for Lynde P. Wheeler, Josiah Willard Gibbs, The History of a Great Mind, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951). No copyright notice or attribution is given in either book.