266
PHVSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
verse, or entropy, always increases. No matter how efficient a machine
might be, it will always produce some waste heat, thereby raising the
entropy of the universe.
The fact that total entropy always increases lies at the heart of human history as well as mother nature. According to the Second Law, it
is far easier to destroy than to build. Something that might take thousands of years to create, such as the great Aztec Empire in Mexico, can
be destroyed in a matter of months; and this is what happened when a
raggedy band of Spanish conquistadores, armed with horses and
firearms, completely shattered that empire.
Every time you look in a mirror and see a new wrinkle or a white
hair you are observing the effects of the Second Law. Biologists tell us
that the aging process is the gradual accumulation of genetic errors in
our cells and genes, so that the cell's ability to function slowly deteriorates. Aging, rusting, rotting, decay, disintegration, and collapse are
also examples of the Second Law.
Remarking on the profound nature of the Second Law, astronomer
Arthur Eddington once said, "The law that entropy always increases
holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature... if
your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics,
I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation."
Even today enterprising engineers (and clever charlatans) continue to
announce the invention of perpetual motion machines. Recently I was
asked by the Wall Street Journal to comment on the work of an inventor who had actually persuaded investors to sink millions of dollars
into his machine. Breathless articles were published in major financial
newspapers, written by journalists with no background in science,
gushing about the potential of this invention to change the world (and
generate fabulous, lucrative profits in the process). "Genius or crackpot?" the headlines blared.
Investors threw enormous bundles of cash at this device, which violated the most basic laws of physics and chemistry taught in high school.
PHVSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
verse, or entropy, always increases. No matter how efficient a machine
might be, it will always produce some waste heat, thereby raising the
entropy of the universe.
The fact that total entropy always increases lies at the heart of human history as well as mother nature. According to the Second Law, it
is far easier to destroy than to build. Something that might take thousands of years to create, such as the great Aztec Empire in Mexico, can
be destroyed in a matter of months; and this is what happened when a
raggedy band of Spanish conquistadores, armed with horses and
firearms, completely shattered that empire.
Every time you look in a mirror and see a new wrinkle or a white
hair you are observing the effects of the Second Law. Biologists tell us
that the aging process is the gradual accumulation of genetic errors in
our cells and genes, so that the cell's ability to function slowly deteriorates. Aging, rusting, rotting, decay, disintegration, and collapse are
also examples of the Second Law.
Remarking on the profound nature of the Second Law, astronomer
Arthur Eddington once said, "The law that entropy always increases
holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature... if
your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics,
I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation."
Even today enterprising engineers (and clever charlatans) continue to
announce the invention of perpetual motion machines. Recently I was
asked by the Wall Street Journal to comment on the work of an inventor who had actually persuaded investors to sink millions of dollars
into his machine. Breathless articles were published in major financial
newspapers, written by journalists with no background in science,
gushing about the potential of this invention to change the world (and
generate fabulous, lucrative profits in the process). "Genius or crackpot?" the headlines blared.
Investors threw enormous bundles of cash at this device, which violated the most basic laws of physics and chemistry taught in high school.