ENTROPY: The Greatest Blunder in the History of Science

ENTROPY: The Greatest Blunder in the History of Science

The greatest blunder ever in the history of science. The Second Law of thermodynamics, the law of entropy, is one of the longest-standing laws of physics, unchanged even by the last century’s two drastic revolutions in physics. However, the concept of entropy has long been misinterpreted and misused – making it the greatest ever blunder in the history of science, propagated for decades by scientists and non-scientists alike. This blunder was initially and primarily brought on by a deep misunderstanding of the concept of entropy. Ironically, ignorance about the meaning of entropy has led some scientists to associate entropy with ignorance, and the Second Law with the “law of spreading ignorance.” In his book, Arieh Ben-Naim, a respected professor of physical chemistry, attempts to right these wrongs. He scrutinizes twelve misguided definitions and interpretations of entropy, brings order to the chaos, and finally lays out the true meaning of entropy in clear and accessible language anyone can understand. This is a unique book. It should be read by anyone who is interested inscience or the history of science. It tells the incredible story of a simple, well-defined quantity, with well-definedlimits of applicability, which has evolved to reach monstrous proportions,embracing and controlling everything that happens and explaining everythingthat is unexplainable.