Gibbs has made great contributions to thermodynamics and statistical physics. 1873, he published the first important thermodynamic paper, Graphic Method of Fluid Thermodynamics. In the same year, he published a paper "Geometric Methods for Describing Thermodynamic Properties with Curved Surfaces". 1876 and 1878, he published one of the most famous papers in two parts, On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances, which is considered as one of the most important papers in the history of chemistry. He put forward the concepts of Gibbs free energy and chemical potential, and clarified the essence of chemical equilibrium, phase equilibrium and surface adsorption. Because of his work in thermodynamics, thermodynamics has formed a rigorous and comprehensive theoretical system. The concept of chemical potential put forward by him and the derived phase law greatly developed physical chemistry.
Because American education emphasized practical knowledge at that time, Gibbs didn't get the attention he deserved. It was not until 1950 that he entered the Hall of Fame of new york University and was commemorated with a bust. Ostwald believes that "he has contributed to physical chemistry for a whole hundred years in form and content." Landau believes that Gibbs "gave the most thorough and complete statistical mechanics form applicable to any macroscopic object". Maxwell, the most outstanding scientist and master of electromagnetism at that time, saw Gibbs' article, so he got up and shouted: "This man's explanation of' heat' has surpassed all German scientists' research. "