Re: 2nd law of thermodynamics

[Dave Hardenbrook <DAVEH47@delphi.com>]

jpoling@infinet.com (Jeff Poling) writes:
>   I got into a conversation with a creationist while hawking my wares
>tonight.  He stated that the 2nd law of thermodynamics (you can't convert
>100% of thermal energy to mechanical; also; that systems go from ordered to
>disordered, or remain the same) proves that evolution cannot happen without
>the hand of god.

I've heard this arguement from creationists many times.  MHO has always been
that the 2nd Law cannot be extrapolated to a disproof of evolution, biological
or otherwise.  I don't even believe (as many cosmologists do) that the 2nd
2nd Law dictates that the universe as a whole is not evolving but is 
"running down" toward a "heat death".

On this subject I recommend "The Big Bang Never Happened" by Eric Lerner (even
though he seems to regard dinosaurs as 100% all cold-blooded and that the K/T
boundary represents a "giant leap" forward for the universe's ever-increasing 
energy flows).

                             -- Dave