Thermodynamics
Signs provide information, and living organisms have information written in their genetic code. People can interchange information using complex systems of auditory and visual signs called languages. This brings us to a convenient point to introduce thermodynamics.
Einstein had a very high view of thermodynamics. He said:
Einstein had a very high view of thermodynamics. He said:
A theory is the more impressive the greater the simplicity of its premises, the more different kinds of things it relates, and the more extended its area of applicability. Therefore the deep impression which classical thermodynamics made on me. It is the only physical theory of universal content concerning which I am convinced that, within the framework of the applicability of its basic concepts, it will never be overthrown.[i]
[i] Einstein, Albert, autobiographical notes in Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist, P. A. Schilpp, editor, Library of Living Philosophers series (London: Cambridge University Press, 1970), Volume VII, page 33, quoted in Elliott H. Lieb and Jakob Yngvason, “A Fresh Look at Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics,” Physics Today, 53 (Number 4, April 2000), pp. 32–37.
