The laws of thermodynamics drive everything that happens in the
universe. From the sudden expansion of a cloud of gas to the cooling of
hot metal--everything is moved or restrained by four simple laws.
Written by Peter Atkins, one of the world's leading authorities on
thermodynamics, this powerful and compact introduction explains what
these four laws are and how they work, using accessible language and
virtually no mathematics. Guiding the reader a step at a time, Atkins
begins with Zeroth (so named because the first two laws were well
established before scientists realized that a third law, relating to
temperature, should precede them--hence the jocular name zeroth), and
proceeds through the First, Second, and Third Laws, offering a clear
account of concepts such as the availability of work and the
conservation of energy. Atkins ranges from the fascinating theory of
entropy (revealing how its unstoppable rise constitutes the engine of
the universe), through the concept of
free energy, and to the brink, and then beyond the brink, of absolute
zero.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and
style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of
life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer,
they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central
problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud,
quantum theory to Islam.
