Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics and Life

Blurb

Scientists theologians and philosophers all wrestle with questions such as why are we here and where are we going Finding answers in the study of material science has proven elusive but in their eloquent and creative book Into the Cool Eric D Schneider and Dorion Sagan discover help in a very surprising place the second law of thermodynamics This second law refers to energy s inevitable tendency to change from being concentrated in one place to becoming spread out over time Schneider and Sagan now show how the second law is behind evolution ecology economics even life itself Scientists theologians and philosophers have all sought to answer the questions of why we are here and where we are going Finding this natural basis of life has proved elusive but in the eloquent and creative Into the Cool Eric D Schneider and Dorion Sagan look for answers in a surprising place the second law of thermodynamics This second law refers to energy s inevitable tendency to change from being concentrated in one place to becoming spread out over time In this scientific tour de force Schneider and Sagan show how the second law is behind evolution ecology economics and even life s origin Working from the precept that nature abhors a gradient Into the Cool details how complex systems emerge enlarge and reproduce in a world tending toward disorder From hurricanes here to life on other worlds from human evolution to the systems humans have created this pervasive pull toward equilibrium governs life at its molecular base and at its peak in the elaborate structures of living complex systems Schneider and Sagan organize their argument in a highly accessible manner moving from descriptions of the basic physics behind energy flow to the organization of complex systems to the role of energy in life to the final section which applies their concept of energy flow to politics economics and even human health A book that needs to be grappled with by a