Second law of thermodynamics
The second law of thermodynamics may be expressed in many specific ways, the most prominent classical statements being the statement by Rudolf Clausius (1854), the statement by Lord Kelvin (1851), and the statement in axiomatic thermodynamics by Constantin Carathéodory (1909). These statements cast the law in general physical terms citing the impossibility of certain processes. The Clausius and the Kelvin statements have been shown to be equivalent.
First law of thermodynamics
The constant of proportionality is universal and independent of the system and in 1845 and 1847 was measured by James Joule, who described it as the "mechanical equivalent of heat".