THERMODYNAMICS and SUSTAINABILITY

Bart Hall (barth@ncatark.uark.edu)
Mon, 2 Dec 1996 13:53:33 +0000

Interesting discussion, this one. It's probably worthwhile, however,
to have a good understanding of thermodynamics, entropy, etc, etc,
before delving into the topic.

The most 'available' discussion that I have seen relating
thermodynamics to any sort of a broad issue happens to be in the
context of the 'Creation vs Evolution' debate brought forward by some
elements of the Christian faith, but it *does* relate to the
discussions on sanet.

This good overview of thermodynamics in general, and entropy in
particular can be found at:

www.students.uiuc.edu/~s-schim/scichr/essays/thermo.html

It's worth a look, if only for the parts about the difficulties of
applying entropy concepts to something like the Earth and its living
systems.

=============================================================================
Bart Hall, National Center for Appropriate Technology
PO Box 3657, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 72702, USA
501-442-9824 barth@ncatfyv.uark.edu

"Restore the real meaning of words, to live in Truth." Vaclav Havel
=============================================================================