Author: Atkins, Peter (Professor of Chemistry, University of Oxford and fellow of Lincoln College)
Popular science
Published on 6 September 2007 by OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS in the United Kingdom as part of 'the Very Short Introductions' series.
Hardback | 144 pages, 8 line drawings
198 x 131 x 16 | 238g
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, and from the unfurling of a leaf to the course of life itself - everything is directed and constrained by four simple laws. They establish fundamental concepts such as temperature and heat, and reveal the arrow of time and even the nature of energy itself. Peter Atkins' powerful and compelling introduction explains what the laws are and how they work, using accessible language and virtually no mathematics. Guiding the reader from the Zeroth Law to the Third Law, he introduces the fascinating concept of entropy, and how it not only explains why your desk tends to get messier, but also how its unstoppable rise constitutes the engine of the universe.
