Is Entropy Natural?

[Mark Kohut]

Whatever. As a metaphor, I suggest TRPjr moved from entropy to self-organization in his published career. As overarching metaphors, I repeat.


--- On Tue, 10/28/08, Henry <scuffling at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Henry <scuffling at gmail.com>
> Subject: Is Entropy Natural?
> To: "'Pynchon Liste'" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 1:31 PM
> http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-nature-breaks-the-second-law
> 
> 
> "Thermodynamics is one of the most widely
> misunderstood branches of physics.
> Laypeople and scientists alike regularly use concepts such
> as temperature,
> pressure and energy without knowing their rigorous meaning
> and subtleties.
> But those of us who plumb the theory's depths are
> acutely aware of the need
> to take care. The Achilles' heel of thermodynamics is
> that, strictly
> speaking, it applies only when the system under study is in
> a quiescent
> state called equilibrium."
> 
> "despite its empirical success, the second law often
> seems paradoxical. The
> proposition that systems steadily run down seems at odds
> with the many
> instances in nature not only of disorganization and decay
> but also of
> self-organization and growth. In addition, the original
> derivation of the
> second law has serious theoretical shortcomings. By all
> rights, the law
> should not apply as widely as it does."
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics 
> "The second law of thermodynamics is an expression of
> the universal law of
> increasing entropy, stating that the entropy of an isolated
> system which is
> not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time,
> approaching a maximum
> value at equilibrium."
> 
> Henry Mu
> Please have a look at my blog,
> http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/henrymu and
> support and
> contribute to the campaign (it's not over until the
> polls close):
> http://tinyurl.com/henrym4obamafundraising