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the Author Comments and Reviews Citations Interviews Introduction Table
of Contents Sample Section: Entropy and
Globalization An Essay: Our World in High
Entropy 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.