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 & from the unfurling of a leaf to the course of life itself
- everything is directed & constrained by four simple laws. They establish fundamental concepts such as temperature & heat & reveal the arrow of time & even the nature of energy itself. Peter Atkins powerful & compelling introduction explains what the laws are & how they work using accessible language & virtually no mathematics. Guiding the reader from the Zeroth Law to the Third Law he introduces the fascinating concept of entropy & how it not only explains why your desk tends to get messier but also how its unstoppable rise constitutes the engine of the universe.