Perfection and Beauty
Is it possible to make a perfect machine that goes on working forever and never breaks down? This brings us to a fundamental difference between the large and the small. At the level of subnuclear particles everything is perfect. No particle is ever overweight or defective. All electrons have exactly the same electrical charge, and that charge is exactly right to cancel the charge on any proton. Subnuclear particles of the same species are identical and indistinguishable. When such particles are so close to each other that their wave amplitudes overlap, quantum mechanics must take into account the fact that they are indistinguishable. Identical, indistinguishable particles may switch places with each other without anyone being sure of what happened. When bound into atoms, electrons dance endlessly about the nucleus, with no friction, no wear, no dissipation of energy. Atoms are perpetual motion machines. We have noted before that the laws of thermodynamics do not deny the existence of perpetual motion machines. The laws only say that no machine can work usefully forever without fuel.
All subnuclear particles of the same kind are equal, but not all atoms. The nucleus of a neutral atom may have more or less than the usual number of neutrons. The presence of an extra neutron or two in one of the two oxygen atoms in a carbon dioxide molecule makes the molecule unsymmetrical. It spins out of balance and absorbs twice as many lines of far infrared radiation.
The first departure from the beauty of perfection thus has to do with excess or lack, or departure from ideal form. Some might claim this as a vindication of one of the ideas of Plato (Greek philosopher, about 428 BCE–about 347 BCE). However, unstable elements also play a role in making the universe suitable for life. Are the extra-heavy hydrogen atoms and the lightweight helium atoms ugly freaks? No, they play a key role in keeping the Sun and stars shining. As another example, some uranium nuclei have only 143 neutrons instead of the more usual 146. That makes the lighter uranium nuclei unstable. But uranium decay causes uneven heating of the interior of the Earth, helping to form the continents. Without unstable forms of uranium a single ocean might completely cover the Earth.
Entropy is necessary for life. Without irreversible chemical changes we could not digest our food. Therefore entropy and death are not the same.
All subnuclear particles of the same kind are equal, but not all atoms. The nucleus of a neutral atom may have more or less than the usual number of neutrons. The presence of an extra neutron or two in one of the two oxygen atoms in a carbon dioxide molecule makes the molecule unsymmetrical. It spins out of balance and absorbs twice as many lines of far infrared radiation.
The first departure from the beauty of perfection thus has to do with excess or lack, or departure from ideal form. Some might claim this as a vindication of one of the ideas of Plato (Greek philosopher, about 428 BCE–about 347 BCE). However, unstable elements also play a role in making the universe suitable for life. Are the extra-heavy hydrogen atoms and the lightweight helium atoms ugly freaks? No, they play a key role in keeping the Sun and stars shining. As another example, some uranium nuclei have only 143 neutrons instead of the more usual 146. That makes the lighter uranium nuclei unstable. But uranium decay causes uneven heating of the interior of the Earth, helping to form the continents. Without unstable forms of uranium a single ocean might completely cover the Earth.
Entropy is necessary for life. Without irreversible chemical changes we could not digest our food. Therefore entropy and death are not the same.
