The concept of entropy, and the second law of thermodynamics have often been used ( usually misused in reality) to " explain" all kinds of things. It is frequently up to chemists to set the record straight in such cases. One argument that has been used to "disprove" evolution goes something like this: "Living beings are more complex than nonliving systems. Furthermore, humans are more biologically complex than lower life forms such as monkeys. Entropy is a measure of randomness, the opposite of complexity. The evolution of life from non life, or of a more complex organism from less complex ones must then increase the organizational complexity, and thus decrease the entropy." The second law of thermodynamics tells us that in a spontaneous process the entropy must increase and can never decrease. Therefore spontaneous evolution, either as the ultimate source of life, or or in the development of more complex living systems, is impossible. From the thermodynamic perspective, this statements fatally flawed. A. Explain why it is flawed B. What would a correctly applied entropy argument say about evolution?
The concept of entropy, and the second law of thermodynamics have often been used ( usually misused in reality) to " explain" all kinds of things. It is frequently up to chemists to set the record straight in such cases. One argument that has been used to "disprove" evolution goes something like this: "Living beings are more complex than nonliving systems. Furthermore, humans are more biologically complex than lower life forms such as monkeys. Entropy is a measure of randomness, the opposite of complexity. The evolution of life from non life, or of a more complex organism from less complex ones must then increase the organizational complexity, and thus decrease the entropy." The second law of thermodynamics tells us that in a spontaneous process the entropy must increase and can never decrease. Therefore spontaneous evolution, either as the ultimate source of life, or or in the development of more complex living systems, is impossible. From the thermodynamic perspective, this statements fatally flawed. A. Explain why it is flawed B. What would a correctly applied entropy argument say about evolution?
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