Abstract
Complex structures such as the cellular building blocks of living things are not at equilibrium in the traditional thermodynamic meaning of the term. They are stable only in the sense that they can continually feed off energy sources supplied by electromagnetic field, chemical, thermal and pressure gradients. Thermodynamically, life has to be viewed as a complex non-equilibrium gradient reduction system. In fact, as non-equilibrium systems, life forms require feedback to prevent them degenerating to equilibrium (and death) in accordance with the second law. The chapter provides a summary of some recent scientific developments in the area of non-equilibrium thermodynamics including some quite controversial thermodynamic explanations for the emergence of life on earth.
Major mysteries of the origins of life, evolutionary biology, and ecology become not only
clearer, but fundamentally comprehensible, in the light of non-equilibrium thermodynamics
E.D. Schneider & D. Sagan
The more a system is moved from equilibrium, the more sophisticated its mechanisms for resisting being moved from equilibrium
E.D. Schneider & J.J. Kay
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Morowitz H (1979) Energy flow in biology: biological organisation as a problem in thermal physics. Ox Bow Press, Woodbridge
Schneider ED, Sagan D (2005) Into the cool. Chicago University Press, Chicago
Feynman R et al (1972) Lectures in physics II. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co, Massachusetts
Angier N (2007) The cannon. Houghton Mifflin, Boston
Schneider ED, Kay J (1994) Life as a manifestation of the second law of thermodynamics. Math Comput Model 19(6–8):25–48
Mikulecky D (1993) Applications of network thermodynamics to problems in biomedical engineering. New York University Press, New York
Hatsopoulos G, Keenan J (1965) Principles of general thermodynamics. John Wiley & Sons Inc, New York
Koschmeider L (1993) Benard cells and taylor vortices. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Nicolis G, Prigogine I (1989) Exploring complexity. W. H. Freeman and Sons, San Francisco
Oster GF, Silver IL, Tobias CA (1974) Irreversible thermodynamics and the origins of life. Gordon & Breach, Science Publishers, New York
Ho M-W (1998) The rainbow and the worm. The physics of organism World Scientific, Singapore
Cech TR (1993) The efficiency and versatility of catalytic RNA: implications for an RNA world. Gene 135:33–36
Dyson F (1994) The universe as a home for life. Hibiya Hall, Tokyo
Dyson F (1999) Origins of life. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Wicken J (1987) Evolution, thermodynamics and information: extending the Darwinian program. Oxford University Press, New York
Weber BH et al (1988) Entropy, information, and evolution. a Bradford book. MIT Press, Cambridge
Wicken JS (1988) Thermodynamics, evolution and emergence. chapter 7 entropy information evolution. In: Weber BH (ed) A Bradford book. MIT Press, Cambridge
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Verlag London Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sangster, A.J. (2011). Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics. In: Warming to Ecocide. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-926-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-926-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-85729-925-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-85729-926-0
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)