By Arieh Ben-Naim
World Scientific
In this book, the author explains entropy and the second law of thermodynamics in a clear and easy way, and with the help of many examples. He intends, in particular, to show that these physics laws are not intrinsically incomprehensible, as they appear at first. The fact that entropy, which is defined in terms of heat and temperature, can be also expressed in terms of order and disorder, which are intangible concepts, together with the evidence that entropy (or, in other words, disorder) increases perpetually, can puzzle students. Some mystery seems to be inevitably associated with these concepts. The author asserts that, looking at the second law from the molecular point of view, everything clears up. What a student needs to know is the atomistic formulation of entropy, which comes from statistical mechanics.
The aim of the book is to clarify these concepts to readers who haven’t studied statistical mechanics. Many dice games and examples from everyday life are used to make readers familiar with the subject. They are guided along a path that allows them to discover by themselves what entropy is, how it changes, and why it always changes in one direction in a spontaneous process.
In this second edition, seven simulated games are also included, so that the reader can experiment with and appreciate the joy of understanding the second law of thermodynamics.
