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The second law of thermodynamics: entropy, irreversibility and dynamics

Nature volume 333, pages 409–415 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

Irreversibility is at once a profound and an elusive concept. We are all aware of the directed, irreversible arrow of time which dominates our own existence. Until recently, however, it had been thought that the fundamental dynamical laws were incompatible with the objective existence of the irreversible processes that thermodynamics purports to describe.

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Author notes

  1. Peter V. Coveney

    Present address: Department of Chemistry, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Theoretical Chemistry Department, Oxford University, Oxford, OX, 13 3PG, UK

    Peter V. Coveney

  2. Faculté des Sciences, Campus Plaine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP 231, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Peter V. Coveney

Authors
  1. Peter V. Coveney
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Coveney, P. The second law of thermodynamics: entropy, irreversibility and dynamics. Nature 333, 409–415 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/333409a0

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