Entropy: A New World View [Mass Market Paperback]

Jeremy Rifkin (Author), Ted Howard (Author), Dr. Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1981

Entropy is said to be a law of nature that constrains all we do. It is the tendency of everything to disorder and randomness. In this book, Jeremy Rifkin asserts our existing world view is crumbling and tells us what will replace it. After all, the other law of nature Rifkin addresses is that nature abhors a vacuum.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books (October 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553202154
• ISBN-13: 978-0553202151
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #540,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is marred by a fundamental misunderstanding of thermodynamics, December 19, 2005

By 

J. Floyd (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Entropy: A New World View (Hardcover)

The thermodynamic basis of this work is unsupportable.

The problem, simply put, is this: while it sounds convincing to most lay-people (and even many physicists, chemists and engineers) to equate thermodynamic entropy with "disorder", this is based on a meaningless misinterpretation of the second law of thermodynamics. The second law of thermodynamics simply states that energy tends to disperse, if it is not hindered from doing so. It says nothing about "orderliness", and nothing about availability of matter.

Entropy is an extensive property of thermodynamic systems. It is not a property of energy, and certainly not of matter. It is nonsensical to speak of "high- or low-entropy" energy. It is even more nonsensical to speak of "high- or low-entropy" matter. Better to speak of energy quality ("the sun provides us with high-quality energy, and low-quality energy is re-radiated back into space"). Entropy is used to measure the "concentration" (I use this term for illustration only) and hence the usefulness or availability to us of energy, within a given system of matter and energy. The second law of thermodynamics tells us nothing about the tendency of matter to become more or less useful or available to us. There is no thermodynamic basis for reading inevitable decay onto physical, biological or social systems.

Dr. Frank L. Lambert, Professor Emeritus (Chemistry) of Occidental College, Los Angeles, has carried out extensive work over the past few years to demythologise the popular (and, all too frequently, specialist) misunderstanding of the second law of thermodynamics. For anyone contemplating reading "The entropy law and the economic process", I would strongly advise that you first look at Lambert's website: http://www.entropysite.com. He goes through this in detail in multiple format aimed at a range of audiences from lay-person to scientist and engineer.

This review is not intended to be disparaging, towards either the authors, or others who share the common misunderstanding of the second law of thermodynamics. The problem is deeply entrenched and it will be a long time before the myths around entropy and the second law are dispelled.

A review similar to this has been posted for other popular books that misrepresent the second law of thermodynamics and the concept of entropy. So far:
-Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen's "The entropy law and the economic process"
-Fritjof Capra's "The web of life"

Others may be added to this list in due course.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars important and enlightening, December 20, 2004

By 

mpower "entitlement erodes liberty" (oregon, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Entropy: A New World View (Hardcover)

It is hard to think of anything more important or interesting than applying the truth of physics to everyday life. In this book, Rifkin efficiently dismantles the predominant/global capitalist economic paradigm with the simple, undeniable pillars of physics and thermodynamics. For the blind mice of the developed world - happily living in debt and consuming beyond their means and needs - physics is a forgotten high school annoyance. Rifkin's thesis quickly turns this annoyance into fear, and ultimately understanding, by reminding us that the modern developed world is indeed living on borrowed time and limited resources. Yes, the book becomes repetitive, but then again, Rifkin's point deserves repeating.

Read the first 4-5 chapters of this book and change your perspective on capitalism and your own footprint on this planet...

27 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This dead horse was very, very naughty., December 11, 2004

By 

Pf. Pfister "gebrochener Flügel" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Entropy: A New World View (Hardcover)

It is almost unfair to review this book, because it has been roundly and rightly ignored for so many years. Mr. Rifkin, for the sake of his more recent work, likely wishes to keep things that way. To anyone interested in thermodynamics, simply look elsewhere; this book is not about entropy in any sense common to science (or English). To those interested in ecology, do not pollute your arguments with this babble. This book is a study in how not to do background research, and how not to construct an argument. The Amazon.com cliché is totally apt: this is the worst book I have ever read.

Rifkin and Howard want to show that energy consumption has accelerated over history, and that we should curb the trend. It's a reasonable sentiment. Unfortunately, they try to make their case for the impending destruction of Earth by borrowing the concept of entropy, or disorder. We all know that energy consumption has been rising ever faster; the authors point out that the laws of thermodynamics dictate that entropy on Earth must also be rising ever faster. Consequently, if these trends continue, disorder will rule and the planet will crumble into dead chaos. The authors prescribe a return to "low-entropy" lifestyles, as in the Classical Age.

Fortunately for us, the laws of thermodynamics do not agree. The authors also do not seem to realize that planet with life is more ordered (has lower entropy) than pre-biotic Earth. Similarly, entropy is mighty low where billions of complicated humans (not to mention other species) interact in countless ways in a miraculous, self-perpetuating system of systems within systems. With each building erected, manatee born, or stock market founded, Earth's entropy falls.

Let's leave aside the cartoonish five page summary of Western history (from an "entropic" view point), and the fact that this volume is cited more by creation scientists (Google it yourself) than by anyone else. The authors have no idea what they're talking about. When you see Entropy at a garage sale, thrift store, or dump, feel free to leaf through it and laugh, but be sure to leave it there.

P.S. One reviewer of Rifkin's Algeny (I think) noted that Rifkin has actually (maybe accidentally) written some useful volumes (Algeny was not one, however--see S.J. Gould in Discovery magazine). Based on Rifkin's new faith in the "hydrogen economy," I can't believe it.