Entropy 2

[Dave Monroe]

"... according to the OED the word was coined in 1865
by Rudolf Clausius .... after having been worked with
in a restrained way for the next 70 or 80 years,
entropy got picked up on by some communication
theorists and given the cosmic moral twist it
continues to enjoy in current usage...." (SL, "Intro,"
p. 12ff.)

entropy ('entr&pI).  Physics.  [f. Gr. trope
transformation (lit. 'turning'), after the analogy of
ENERGY.  First proposed by Clausius (1865) in Ger.
form entropie.
   Clausius (Pogg. Ann. CXXV. 390), assuming
(unhistorically) the etymological sense of energy to
be 'work-contents' (werk-inhalt), devised the term
entropy as a corresponding designation for the
'transformation-contents' (verwandlungsinhalt) of a
system.]
   1. The name given to one of the quantitative
elements which determine the thermodynamic condition
of a portion of matter. Also transf. and fig.
   In Clausius' sense, the entropy of a system is the
measure of the unavailability of its thermal energy
for conversion into mechanical work.... The term was
first used in Eng. by Prof. Tait ... who however
proposed to use it in a sense exactly opposite to that
of Clausius. In this he was followed ... by Maxwell
and others; but subsequently Tait and Maxwell reverted
to the original definition, which is now generally
accepted.

[...]

   2. a. Communication Theory.  A measure of the
average information rate of a message or language ....

[...]

   b. Math. In wider use: any quantity having
properties analogous to those of the physical quantity
....

http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/00076390

Shannon, Claude E.  "A Mathematical Theory of
   Communication," Bell Systems Technical Journal
   27 (1948):379-423.

http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/paper.html

http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/shannon1948.pdf

And see as well, e.g., ...

http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/entropy/

http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/entropy/paradox.html

http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/slowlearner/entropy.html

http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/papers_dutta.html

http://www.israel.ru/krok/tr/entr_for.htm

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0211&msg=73011&sort=date

--- JBFRAME at aol.com wrote:
> There are at least three ways of defining entropy ...

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