mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ 
For complete access to all the files of this collection
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==========================================================
_Adventures in Entropy_

If ever there was a concept destined to be universally misunderstood,
_entropy_ must be it. Both as a word, and as an idea, entropy may be
the most misused of all scientific notions. With luck, I will be able
to do something about that.

I have written a few of my own webpages to deal with entropy, and
hopefully to deal with it right. Entropy, as is usually the case in
real science, has a foundation in both physics and mathematics. If one
waters down this foundation for popular consumption, one runs the risk
of telling a story that is just plain wrong. On the other hand, if one
plays it up too much, the non mathematical or non scientific audience
is lost in the woods. So I try to find that happy middle ground, and
say enough about the mathematics & physics to be sure I am right,
while trying at the same time, to make enough of what I say clear to
the reader, such that your understanding will not be damaged by lack
of articulation.

So, with this page as a front end, I will list my own pages, plus
other resources laying around the WWW that I figure are worth looking
at. Perhaps if my rendition doesn't work, somebody elses will. In
either case, I hope that starting here, even the most difficult of
students, can learn something real about entropy, and the
thermodynamics that goes with it.

_My Own Pages_
* [1]Definitions of Entropy
Entropy defined, in classical thermodynamics, statistical
mechanics, and information theory.
* [2]The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
As the title implies, a defintion of the 2nd law of
thermodynamics. We look at the 2nd law from both a classical and
statistical view, and introduce the concept of a _phase space_.
* [3]Entropy and the 2nd Law in Open Systems
A short look at how the 2nd law, defined for closed systems in
equilibrium, can be used on systems which do not meet these
fundamental criteria.

_Other Entropy places on the WWW_
* [4]Entropy on the World Wide Web
Originally created by University of Washington mathematician Chris
Hillmann, now maintained by University of Pennsylvania
mathematician Roland Gunesch. An index of WWW sites that deal with
entropy. A good place to look around.
* [5]The Page of Entropy
Maintained by [6]Dave Slaven, physics teacher at [7]Saginaw Valley
State University. Another collection of pages similar to mine, but
with a different approach, which try to explain entropy and the
2nd law of thermodynamics.
* [8]SecondLaw.Com
Hosted by Frank Lambert, Professor Emeritus from Occidental
College in Los Angeles. A general description of the 2nd law.
* [9]Note on Entropy, Disorder, and Disorganization
By chemist Kenneth Denbigh, visiting research fellow, King's
College, London. A detailed, and sometimes technical note, on the
true relationship between the titled quantities, entropy,
disorder, and disorgnization. Specifically directed against the
argument that there may be a conflict between the 2nd law of
thermodynamics and biological evolution.
* [10]Entropy, God and Evolution
by Canadian physicist Doug Craigen. Another look at the fallacious
equation of entropy as disorder, and how it relates to arguments
on biological evolution.
_________________________________________________________________

[11]Tim Thompson's Home Page
[12]The Collected Writings of Tim Thompson

setstats 1

References

1. file://localhost/www/sat/files/tim_thompson/entropy1.html
2. file://localhost/www/sat/files/tim_thompson/entropy2.html
3. file://localhost/www/sat/files/tim_thompson/entropy3.html
4. http://www.math.psu.edu/gunesch/entropy.html
5. http://www.svsu.edu/~slaven/Entropy.html
6. http://www.svsu.edu/~slaven/
7. http://www.svsu.edu/
8. http://www.secondlaw.com/
9. http://www.endeav.org/evolut/text/denbig1/denbig1e.htm
10. http://www.escape.ca/~acc/reading/evol.html
11. file://localhost/www/sat/files/tim_thompson/index.html
12. file://localhost/www/sat/files/tim_thompson/faqs.html