Non-equilibrium thermodynamics and life
This note recommends Schneider and Sagan's Into the Cool, explaining life as organized eddies in the universe's entropy flow under non-equilibrium thermodynamics.
Why it matters: ecology and biology gain a physical vocabulary for why living systems persist far from equilibrium.
Use the book link as the entry point. The editorial take is that thermodynamics is not a metaphor for life; it is part of the operating manual.
Non Equilibrium thermodynamics (NET) allow for eddies in the entropy river of the universe. NET eddies are life and or lifelike. Dorian Sagan, son of Carl Sagan and Lynn Margulis and Eric Schneider, provide an outstanding description of this process. I highly recommend this book. LS