INTO THE COOL: ENERGY FLOW, THERMODYNAMICS AND LIFE

e Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, And Life The what, why and how of life always intrigued human race. Scientists, philosophers and theologians all have tried to answer these questions in their own way. In this interesting book, Eric Schneider and Dorion Sagan explain the basis of life by drawing a parallel between Life and the second law of thermodynamics. This second law refers to energys inevitable tendency to change from being concentrated in one place to becoming spread out over time. In this scientific tour de force, the authors show how the second law is behind evolution, ecology, economics and even lifes origin. Working from the precept that nature abhors a gradient, Into the Cool details how complex systems emerge, enlarge, and reproduce (a greatly ordered process) in a world tending toward disorder. From hurricanes here to life on other worlds, from human evolution to systems humans have created, this pervasive pull toward equilibrium governs life at its molecular base and at its peak in the elaborate structures of complex living 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. Into the Cool will be of interest to everyone who wonders at the organizing principles of existence, be it humanists or scientist, theologians or philosophers. Charles Darwin shook the world by showing the common ancestry of all life; Into the Cool shows the common roots in energy flow of all complex, organized and naturally functioning systems. The authors demystify thermodynamics and bring out its part in the creation of life, keeping the reader both disturbed and delighted!