Wednesday, May 25, 2005
The End of Certainty, Time’s Flow and the Laws of Nature
The End of Certainty, Time’s Flow and the Laws of Nature
© 1997 by Ilya Prigogine
Life, concludes Schrödinger, feeds on a negative entropy flow. A nonequlibrium system may evolve spontaneously to a state of increased complexity. The ordering we observe is the outcome of irreversible processes and could not be achieved at equilibrium. Matter acquires new properties when far from equilibrium in that fluctuations and instabilities are now the norm. Matter becomes more active. This branch becomes unstable at some critical distance from equilibrium. The point where this occurs is known as the bifurcation point.
We have given the name dissipative structures to these spatiotemporal organizations. Matter at equilibrium is blind, but far from equilibrium begins to see.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684837056
© 1997 by Ilya Prigogine
Life, concludes Schrödinger, feeds on a negative entropy flow. A nonequlibrium system may evolve spontaneously to a state of increased complexity. The ordering we observe is the outcome of irreversible processes and could not be achieved at equilibrium. Matter acquires new properties when far from equilibrium in that fluctuations and instabilities are now the norm. Matter becomes more active. This branch becomes unstable at some critical distance from equilibrium. The point where this occurs is known as the bifurcation point.
We have given the name dissipative structures to these spatiotemporal organizations. Matter at equilibrium is blind, but far from equilibrium begins to see.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684837056
