Information, Entropy, Life and the Universe: What We Know and What We Do Not Know

by Arieh Ben-Naim

The aim of this book is to explain in simple language what we know and what we do not know about information and entropy — two of the most frequently discussed topics in recent literature — and whether they are relevant to life and the entire universe.

Entropy is commonly interpreted as a measure of disorder. This interpretation has caused a great amount of "disorder" in the literature. One of the aims of this book is to put some "order" in this "disorder".

The book explains with minimum amount of mathematics what information theory is and how it is related to thermodynamic entropy. Then it critically examines the application of these concepts to the question of "What is life?" and whether or not they can be applied to the entire universe.

Contents:

Information:
The General Concept of Information
Shannon's Measure of Information
The Case of an Experiment with Two Outcomes; Definition of the Bit
The General Case
Some Elementary Properties of the Function H
Application of the Maximum Uncertainty Principle
Application of SMI to the English Language
Conditional Information and Mutual Information
Redundancy
Some Simple Examples of SMI
The Change in SMI for Some Simple Processes
Can SMI Flow, or Be Created or Destroyed?
Is Information Physical?
Evolving Games
Summary of Chapter 1

Entropy:
Nonatomistic Formulation of the Second Law
Atomistic Formulation of the Second Law
Informational Derivation of Entropy and the Second Law
The Second Law of Thermodynamics
The Association of the Second Law with the Arrow of Time
Does the Maxwell Demon Defeat Entropy or Is It Defeated by Entropy?
The Change in Entropy for Some Simple Processes
Can Entropy Flow Be Created or Destroyed?
Entropy as a Measure of Disorder
Summary of Chapter 2

Life:
Can Life Be Reduced to Physics and Chemistry?
The "Book of Life"
Application of Information Theory to DNA
Transmitting Information Between Molecules —and Indirect Interactions
Information Storage and Processing in the Brain
What Is Life?
Fifty Years After What Is Life?
Entropy and Life
Is Schrödinger's Cat Alive or Dead?
The Origin and Evolution of Life
Entropy and Evolution
Summary of Chapter 3

The Universe:
Entropy Change in a Simple Expansion Process
Two Processes Involving Negative Change In Entropy
Entropy of the Universe?
Information and the Universe
Entropy and Information of Black Holes
Summary of Chapter 4

Readership: Interested lay public in information theory, thermodynamics, biology and cosmology.

Genres: Science, Physics

492 pages, Hardcover

First published May 18, 2015

Reviews

[Simona B]

Almost all the mathematics went right over my head, but in my layman's opinion Ben-Naim does a wonderful job of shedding light on slippery and not-so-immediate concepts which, in less capable hands, would simply be the objects of mystifying if inspirational and high-sounding catchphrases--the latter being a tendency common to many science-popularisers that is often the target of Ben-Naim's ire. Personally, I think that a healthy dose of sarcastic scepticism never hurts, so my reading experience was made twice as enjoyable by Ben-Naim's genuine desire to abide by the actual scientific facts at our disposal in the conviction that this is how you truly get to understand the difficult ideas this book deals with. Wholly recommended on my part.

[Wouter Van · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mathematical deduction of ideal gas law from information entropy is quite interesting.
Rest of the book did not interest me.