Thelawsofthermodynamicsdriveeverythingthathappensintheuniverse.Fromthesuddenexpansionofacloudofgastothecoolingofhotmetal--everythingismovedorrestrainedbyfoursimplelaws.WrittenbyPeterAtkins,oneoftheworld’sleadingauthoritiesonthermodynamics,thispowerfulandcompactintroductionexplainswhatthesefourlawsareandhowtheywork,usingaccessiblelanguageandvirtuallynomathematics.Guidingthereaderastepatatime,AtkinsbeginswithZeroth(sonamedbecausethefirsttwolawswerewellestablishedbeforescientistsrealizedthatathirdlaw,relatingtotemperature,shouldprecedethem--hencethejocularnamezeroth),andproceedsthroughtheFirst,Second,andThirdLaws,offeringaclearaccountofconceptssuchastheavailabilityofworkandtheconservationofenergy.Atkinsrangesfromthefascinatingtheoryofentropy(revealinghowitsunstoppableriseconstitutestheengineoftheuniverse),throughtheconceptoffreeenergy,andtothebrink,andthenbeyondthebrink,ofabsolutezero.AbouttheSeries:Combiningauthoritywithwit,accessibility,andstyle,VeryShortIntroductionsofferanintroductiontosomeoflife’smostinterestingtopics.Writtenbyexpertsforthenewcomer,theydemonstratethefinestcontemporarythinkingaboutthecentralproblemsandissuesinhundredsofkeytopics,fromphilosophytoFreud,quantumtheorytoIslam.
