Casimir Effect - The Classical Limit

The temperature dependence of the Casimir effect for the radiation field confined between two conducting plates is analysed. The Casimir energy is shown to decline exponentially with temperature while the Casimir entropy which is defined in the text is shown to approach a limit which depends only on the geometry of the constraining plates. The results are discussed in terms of the relation between the Bose distribution function and the equipartition theorem - a relation based on a study by Einstein and Stern circa 1913.