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of Contents Sample Section: Entropy and Globalization An
Essay: Need to Know the Second Law An Essay: Time
Travel: Possible or Impossible? Excerpts Foreign
Editions Foreword to the Chinese Edition Academia Where
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This
book is about the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics—the Laws of Energy and Entropy—applied to a wide range of human endeavor,
including chemistry, cosmology, medicine, education, agriculture, economics,
globalization, technology, ecology, and philosophy (entropy is a measure of the
disorder of a system).
The last 200 years have brought humankind an impressive
array of technological marvels. These innovations have made their way into our
industries, homes, and places of work. We are now surrounded with all kinds of
“timesaving” devices, yet we have less time for ourselvessss than our parents
and grandparents had. It seems that nothing is impossible for the human race
and that we are in control of the world in which we live, yet biological and
electronic bugs and viruses are threatening us daily in complex and
unpredictable ways. World population and globalization of economies are growing
steadily, as are environmental and socioeconomic disorders. Our technological
powers are increasing, but so are their side effects and unintended
consequences.
In the Science of
Disorder, physicist and information technologist Jack Hokikian explains our
predicament through the Laws of Thermodynamics—the Laws of
Energy and Entropy. These laws control all processes in the universe, including
our technologies and activities. Dr. Hokikian gives a comprehensive review of
the significance of these fundamental Laws of Nature, especially as they apply
to the environment and to our lives. He shows us how we can attain—through the Laws of Thermodynamics—a philosophy of life that can guide
us in our daily actions and decisions.