  This paper gives a short review of the history of statistical physics
starting from D. Bernoulli's kinetic theory of gases in the 18th century until
the recent new developments in nonequilibrium kinetic theory in the last
decades of this century. The most important contributions of the great
physicists Clausius, Maxwell and Boltzmann are sketched. It is shown how the
reversibility and the recurrence paradox are resolved within Boltzmann's
statistical interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics. An approach to
classical and quantum statistical mechanics is outlined. Finally the progress
in nonequilibrium kinetic theory in the second half of this century is sketched
starting from the work of N.N. Bogolyubov in 1946 up to the progress made
recently in understanding the diffusion processes in dense fluids using
computer simulations and analytical methods.
