Abstract
If the truth were known, thermodynamics would be seen as explaining little about the details of life functions in animals and plants, at least compared to what there is to be explained. This is no different than with engines: Thermodynamics cannot provide a recipe for their construction, or give information about where and how to arrange seals and boreholes for lubrication, and how to operate the valves and where to install them. What thermodynamics can do about engines is to give an account of the balance of in- and effluxes of mass, momentum, energy and entropy, and that is essentially what it can also do about life. For the engine that task has been done satisfactorily; for animals and plants maybe there remains something to be done.
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© 2007 Springer
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Müller, I. (2007). Metabolism. In: A History of Thermodynamics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-46227-9_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-46227-9_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-46226-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-46227-9
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