The law of conservation and transformation of energy (the first law of thermodynamics) in principle does not prohibit such a transition, as long as the amount of energy is preserved in the same volume. But in reality, this never happens. It is this one-sidedness, one-directionality of the redistribution of energy in closed systems that emphasizes the second principle.

To reflect this process, a new concept was introduced into thermodynamics - entropy. Entropy is understood as a measure of the disorder of the system. A more precise formulation of the second law of thermodynamics took the following form: "In spontaneous processes in systems having constant energy, entropy always increases."

The physical meaning of the increase in entropy boils down to the fact that an isolated (with constant energy) system consisting of a certain set of particles tends to go into a state with the least ordered particle motion. This is the simplest state of the system, or the state of thermodynamic equilibrium, in which the movement of particles is chaotic. Maximum entropy means complete thermodynamic equilibrium, which is equivalent to complete chaos.

The overall result is quite sad: the irreversible direction of energy conversion processes in isolated systems will sooner or later lead to the conversion of all types of energy into thermal energy, which will dissipate, i.e. on average will be evenly distributed among all elements of the system, which will mean thermodynamic balance, or complete chaos. If our Universe is closed, then such an unenviable fate awaits it. From chaos, as the ancient Greeks claimed, it was born, into chaos, as classical thermodynamics suggests, and will return.

True, a curious question arises: if the Universe evolves only towards chaos, then how could it arise and organize itself to the present ordered state? However, classical thermodynamics did not ask this question, because it was formed in an era when the non-stationary nature of the Universe was not even discussed. At that time, the only silent reproach to thermodynamics was Darwin's theory of evolution. After all, the process of development of the plant and animal world, assumed by this theory, was characterized by its continuous complication, the growth of the height of organization and order. Wildlife for some reason aspired away from thermodynamic equilibrium and chaos. Such an obvious "inconsistency" in the laws of development of inanimate and living nature was at least surprising.

This surprise increased many times after the replacement of the model of the stationary Universe with the model of the developing Universe,

in which the growing complication of the organization of material objects was clearly visible - from elementary and subelementary particles in the first moments after the Big Bang to the currently observed stellar and galactic systems. After all, if the principle of increasing entropy is so universal, how could such complex structures arise? They can no longer be explained by random "perturbations" of the equilibrium Universe as a whole. It became clear that in order to maintain the consistency of the general picture of the world, it is necessary to postulate the presence of matter in general not only of a destructive, but also of a creative tendency. Matter is capable of doing work against thermodynamic equilibrium, self-organize and self-complex.

It should be noted that the postulate about the ability of matter to self-development was introduced into philosophy quite a long time ago. But his need for fundamental natural sciences (physics, chemistry) is beginning to be realized only now. In the wake of these problems, synergy- the theory of self-organization. Its development began several decades ago, and currently it is developing in several areas: synergetics (G. Haken), non-equilibrium thermodynamics (I. Prigozhy), etc. Without going into the details and shades of the development of these areas, we will characterize the general meaning of the complex they develop ideas, calling them synergetic (G. Haken's term).

The main worldview shift produced by synergetics can be expressed as follows:

a) the processes of destruction and creation, degradation and evolution in the Universe are at least equal in rights;

b) the processes of creation (increase in complexity and orderliness) have a single algorithm, regardless of the nature of the systems in which they are carried out.

Thus, synergetics claims to discover a certain universal mechanism by which self-organization is carried out both in living and inanimate nature. By self-organization is meant spontaneous transition of an open non-equilibrium system from less to more complex and ordered forms of organization. It follows from this that the object of synergetics can be by no means any system.

we, but only those that satisfy at least two conditions:

a) they must be open, i.e. exchange matter or energy with the environment;

b) they must also be substantially nonequilibrium, i.e. be in a state far from thermodynamic equilibrium.

But that's exactly what most of the systems we know about are. Isolated systems of classical thermodynamics are a certain idealization; in reality, such systems are the exception, not the rule. It is more difficult with the entire Universe as a whole - if we consider it an open system, then what can serve as its external environment? Modern physics believes that vacuum is such a medium for our material Universe.

So, synergetics claims that the development of open and highly non-equilibrium systems proceeds through increasing complexity and order. There are two phases in the development cycle of such a system:

1. A period of smooth evolutionary development with well-predictable linear changes, eventually bringing the system to some unstable critical state.

2. Exit from a critical state at once, abruptly, and transition to a new stable state with a greater degree of complexity and order.

An important feature: the transition of the system to a new stable state is ambiguous. Having reached the critical parameters, the system from the state of strong instability, as it were, “falls down” into one of the many possible new stable states for it. At this point (it is called the bifurcation point), the evolutionary path of the system, as it were, forks, and which branch of development will be chosen is decided by chance! But after the “choice is made”, and the system has moved to a qualitatively new stable state, there is no going back. This process is irreversible. And from this, by the way, it follows that the development of such systems is fundamentally unpredictable. It is possible to calculate the branching options for the evolution of the system, but which of them will be chosen by chance cannot be unambiguously predicted.

The most popular and illustrative example of the formation of structures of increasing complexity is a well-studied phenomenon in hydrodynamics called Benard cells. When a liquid in a round or rectangular vessel is heated, a certain temperature difference (gradient) arises between its lower and upper layers. If the gradient is small, then heat transfer occurs at the microscopic level and no macroscopic movement occurs. However, when it reaches a certain critical value, a macroscopic motion suddenly (in a jump) appears in the liquid, forming clearly defined structures in the form of cylindrical cells. From above, such macro-ordering looks like a stable cellular structure, similar to a honeycomb.

This phenomenon, well known to all, is absolutely unbelievable from the standpoint of statistical mechanics. After all, it indicates that at the moment of the formation of Benard cells, billions of liquid molecules, as if on command, begin to behave in a coordinated, coordinated manner, although before that they were in a completely chaotic movement. It seems that each molecule "knows" what everyone else is doing and wants to move in a common formation. (The very word "synergetics", by the way, just means "joint action".) Classical statistical laws obviously do not work here, this is a phenomenon of a different order. After all, even if such a “correct” and stably “cooperative” structure were formed by chance, which is almost unbelievable, it would immediately collapse. But it does not disintegrate while maintaining the appropriate conditions (inflow of energy from outside), but is stably preserved. This means that the emergence of such structures of increasing complexity is not an accident, but a pattern.

The search for similar processes of self-organization in other classes of open non-equilibrium systems seems to promise to be successful: the mechanism of laser action, the growth of crystals, the chemical clock (Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction), the formation of a living organism, population dynamics, the market economy, and finally, in which the chaotic actions of millions of free individuals lead to the formation of stable and

complex macrostructures - all these are examples of self-organization of systems of a very different nature.

The synergetic interpretation of such phenomena opens up new possibilities and directions for their study. In a generalized form, the novelty of the synergetic approach can be expressed in the following positions:

Chaos is not only destructive, but also creative, constructive; development is carried out through instability (chaoticity).

The linear nature of the evolution of complex systems, to which classical science is accustomed, is not the rule, but rather the exception; the development of most of these systems is non-linear. And this means that for complex systems there are always several possible ways of evolution.

Development is carried out through a random choice of one of several allowed possibilities for further evolution at bifurcation points. Therefore, randomness is not an unfortunate misunderstanding, it is built into the mechanism of evolution. It also means that the current path of evolution of the system may not be better than those rejected by random selection.

Synergetics comes from physical disciplines - thermodynamics, radiophysics. But her ideas are interdisciplinary. They provide a basis for the global evolutionary synthesis taking place in natural science. Therefore, synergetics is seen as one of the most important components of the modern scientific picture of the world.

2.3.3. General contours of the modern natural-scientific picture of the world

The world in which we live consists of multi-scale open systems, the development of which is subject to certain general patterns. At the same time, it has its own long history, which is generally known to modern science.

Here is the chronology of the most important events of this story 1:

20 billion years back - Big bang

3 minutes later - the formation of the material basis of the Universe (photons, neutrinos and antineutrinos with an admixture of hydrogen nuclei, helium and electrons).

After a few hundred - the appearance of atoms (light elements thousand years Comrade).

19-17 billion years ago - the formation of structures of different scales (galaxies).

15 billion years ago - the appearance of first-generation stars, the formation of atoms of heavy elements.

5 billion years ago - the birth of the Sun.

4.6 billion years ago - the formation of the Earth.

3.8 billion years ago - the origin of life.

450 million years ago - the appearance of plants.

150 million years ago - the appearance of mammals.

2 million years ago - the beginning of anthropogenesis.

We emphasize that modern science knows not only the "dates", but in many respects the very mechanisms of the evolution of the Universe from the Big Bang to the present day. This is a fantastic result. Moreover, the largest breakthroughs to the secrets of the history of the Universe were made in the second half of our century:

the concept of the Big Bang was proposed and substantiated, the quark model of the atom was constructed, the types of fundamental interactions were established and the first theories of their unification were constructed, etc. We pay attention first of all to the successes of physics and cosmology, because it is these fundamental sciences that form the general contours of the scientific picture of the world.

The picture of the world drawn by modern natural science is unusually complex and simple at the same time. Difficult because it can confuse a person who is accustomed to agreement

1 See: Philosophy and methodology of science. - M.: Aspect Press, 1996. - S. 290.

common-sense classical scientific ideas. The ideas of the beginning of time, the corpuscular-wave dualism of quantum objects, the internal structure of vacuum capable of producing virtual particles - these and other similar innovations give the current picture of the world a little "crazy" look. (However, this is transient: once, after all, the idea of ​​the Earth being spherical also looked completely “crazy”.)

But at the same time, this picture is majestically simple, slender and somewhere even elegant. These qualities are given to it mainly by the leading principles we have already considered for the construction and organization of modern scientific knowledge:

Consistency,

global evolutionism,

self-organization,

Historicity.

These principles of constructing a scientific picture of the world as a whole correspond to the fundamental laws of the existence and development of Nature itself.

Consistency means the reproduction by science of the fact that the observable Universe appears as the largest of all systems known to us, consisting of a huge variety of elements (subsystems) of different levels of complexity and order.

A "system" is usually understood as a kind of ordered set of interconnected elements. The systemic effect is found in the appearance of new properties in an integral system that arise as a result of the interaction of elements (hydrogen and oxygen atoms, for example, combined into a water molecule, radically change their usual properties). Another important characteristic of the system organization is hierarchy, subordination - the consistent inclusion of lower-level systems into systems of ever higher levels.

The systemic way of combining elements expresses their fundamental unity: due to the hierarchical inclusion of systems of different levels into each other, any element of any system is associated with all elements of all possible systems. (For example: man - biosphere - planet Earth -

The solar system - the Galaxy, etc.) It is this fundamentally unified character that the world around us shows us. The scientific picture of the world and the natural science that creates it are organized in the same way. All its parts are now closely interconnected - now there is practically no "pure" science anymore, everything is permeated and transformed by physics and chemistry.

Global evolutionism- this is the recognition of the impossibility of the existence of the Universe and all smaller-scale systems generated by it without development, evolution. The evolving nature of the Universe also testifies to the fundamental unity of the world, each component part of which is a historical consequence of the global evolutionary process started by the Big Bang.

self-organization- this is the observed ability of matter to self-complication and the creation of more and more ordered structures in the course of evolution. The mechanism of transition of material systems to a more complex and ordered state is apparently similar for systems of all levels.

These fundamental features of the modern natural-science picture of the world mainly determine its general outline, as well as the very method of organizing diverse scientific knowledge into something whole and consistent.

However, it has another feature that distinguishes it from the previous versions. It consists in recognizing historicity, and consequently, fundamental incompleteness real, and any other scientific picture of the world. The one that exists now is generated both by previous history and by the specific socio-cultural features of our time. The development of society, the change in its value orientations, the awareness of the importance of studying unique natural systems, in which man himself is included as an integral part, changes both the strategy of scientific research and the attitude of man to the world.

But the universe is also evolving. Of course, the development of society and the Universe is carried out in different tempo-rhythms. But their mutual imposition makes the idea of ​​creating a final, complete, absolutely true scientific picture of the world practically unrealizable.

So, we have tried to note some fundamental features of the modern natural-scientific picture of the world. This is just its general outline, having outlined it, one can proceed to a more detailed acquaintance with the specific conceptual innovations of modern natural science. We will talk about them in the following chapters.

Review questions

1. Why does science appear only in the VI-IV centuries. BC uh, not earlier? What are the characteristics of scientific knowledge?

2. What is the essence of the falsification principle? How does he work?

3. Name the criteria for distinguishing the theoretical and empirical levels of scientific knowledge. What role does each of these levels play in scientific knowledge?

5. What is a paradigm?

6. Describe the content of the natural scientific revolution of the late XIX - early XX centuries.

7. “This world was shrouded in deep darkness. Let there be light! And here comes Newton. But Satan did not wait long for revenge. Einstein came - and everything became as before. (S. Ya. Marshak)

What feature of scientific knowledge is the author ironic about?

8. What is the essence of the principle of global evolutionism? How does it manifest itself?

9. Describe the main ideas of synergetics. What is the novelty of the synergetic approach?

10. Name the principal features of the modern natural-scientific picture of the world.

Literature

1. Knyazeva E.N., Kurdyumov S.P. Laws of evolution and self-organization of complex systems. - M.: Nauka, 1994.

2. Kuznetsov V.I., Idlis G.M., Gutina V.N. Natural science. - M.: Agar, 1996.

3. Kuhn T. The structure of scientific revolutions. - M.: Progress 1975.

4. Lakatos I. Methodology of scientific research programs // Questions of Philosophy. - 1995. - No. 4.

5. Rovinsky R.E. Developing Universe. - M., 1995.

6. Modern philosophy of science. - M.: Logos, 1996.

7. Stepin V. S., Gorokhov V. G., Rozov M. A. Philosophy of science and technology. - M.: Gardarika, 1996.

8. Philosophy and methodology of science. - M.: Aspect Press 1996.

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7.3.5. Noosphere. The teachings of V. I. Vernadsky about the noosphere

The huge impact of man on nature and the large-scale consequences of his activities served as the basis for the creation

teachings about noosphere. The term "noosphere" (gr. poo5-mind) is translated literally as the sphere of the mind. It was first introduced into scientific circulation in 1927 by a French scientist E. Leroy. Together with Teilhard de Chardin he considered the noosphere as a kind of ideal formation, an extra-biospheric shell of thought surrounding the Earth.

A number of scientists propose to use other concepts instead of the concept of "noosphere": "technosphere", "anthroposphere", "psychosphere", "sociosphere" or use them as synonyms. This approach seems to be very controversial, since there is a certain difference between the listed concepts and the concept of "noosphere".

It should also be noted that the doctrine of the noosphere does not yet have a complete canonical character, which could be taken as some kind of unconditional guide to action. The doctrine of the noosphere was also formulated in the works of one of its founders, V. I. Vernadsky. In his works, one can find different definitions and ideas about the noosphere, which, moreover, changed throughout the life of a scientist. Vernadsky began to develop this concept from the beginning of the 30s. after a detailed development of the doctrine of the biosphere. Realizing the enormous role and importance of man in the life and transformation of the planet, V. I. Vernadsky uses the concept of "noosphere" in different senses: 1) as a state of the planet, when a person becomes the largest transformative geological force; 2) as an area of ​​active manifestation of scientific thought; 3) as the main factor in the restructuring and change of the biosphere.

Very important in the teachings of V. I. Vernadsky about the noosphere was that he first realized and tried to synthesize natural and social sciences when studying the problems of global human activity, actively restructuring the environment. In his opinion, the noosphere is already a qualitatively different, higher stage of the biosphere, associated with a radical transformation not only of nature, but also of man himself. This is not just a sphere of application of human knowledge at a high level of technology. For this, the concept of "technosphere" is enough. We are talking about such a stage in the life of mankind when the transforming activity of man will be based on a strictly scientific and really reasonable understanding of all ongoing processes and will necessarily be combined with the “interests of nature”.

Currently under noosphere the sphere of interaction between man and nature is understood, within which reasonable human activity becomes the main determining factor in development. IN structure of the noosphere can be distinguished as components of humanity, social systems, the totality of scientific knowledge, the sum of equipment and technologies in unity with the biosphere. The harmonious interconnection of all components of the structure is the basis for the sustainable existence and development of the noosphere.

Speaking about the evolutionary development of the world, its transition into the noosphere, the founders of this doctrine differed in understanding the essence of this process. Teilhard de Chardin talked about the gradual transition of the biosphere into the noosphere, i.e. "into the realm of the mind, the evolution of which is subject to the mind and will of man", by gradually smoothing out the difficulties between man and nature.

In V. I. Vernadsky we meet a different approach. In his doctrine of the biosphere, living matter transforms the upper shell of the Earth. Gradually, human intervention is increasing, humanity is becoming the main planetary geological-forming force. Therefore (the core of Vernadsky's doctrine of the noosphere) man is directly responsible for the evolution of the planet. His understanding of this thesis is also necessary for his own survival. The spontaneity of development will make the biosphere unsuitable for human habitation. In this regard, a person should measure his needs with the capabilities of the biosphere. The impact on it must be dosed by the mind in the course of the evolution of the biosphere and society. Gradually, the biosphere is transformed into the noosphere, where its development acquires a controlled character.

This is the difficult nature of the evolution of nature, the biosphere, as well as the complexity of the emergence of the noosphere, determining the role and place of man in it. V. I. Vernadsky repeatedly emphasized that humanity is only entering this state. And today, several decades after the scientist's death, there are no sufficient grounds to talk about stable intelligent human activity (that is, that we have already reached the state of the noosphere). And so it will be at least until humanity solves the global problems of the planet, including environmental ones. More about the noosphere

speak of as the ideal to which a person should aspire.

7.4. The relationship between space and wildlife

Due to the interconnection of everything that exists, the cosmos has an active influence on the most diverse processes of life on Earth.

VI Vernadsky, speaking about the factors influencing the development of the biosphere, pointed out, among others, the cosmic influence. So, he emphasized that without cosmic bodies, in particular without the Sun, life on Earth could not exist. Living organisms transform cosmic radiation into terrestrial energy (thermal, electrical, chemical, mechanical) on a scale that determines the existence of the biosphere.

The Swedish scientist pointed out the significant role of the cosmos in the emergence of life on Earth. Nobel Laureate S. Arrhenius. In his opinion, the introduction of life to Earth from space was possible in the form of bacteria due to cosmic dust and energy. V. I. Vernadsky did not exclude the possibility of the appearance of life on Earth from space.

The influence of space on the processes occurring on Earth (for example, the Moon on the tides, solar eclipses) was noticed by people in ancient times. However, for many centuries, the connection between the cosmos and the Earth was more often understood at the level of scientific hypotheses and conjectures, or even outside the framework of science. This was largely due to the limited human capabilities, scientific base and available tools. IN XX Over the centuries, knowledge about the influence of space on the Earth has significantly increased. And this is the merit of Russian scientists, primarily representatives Russian cosmism - A. L. Chizhevsky, K. E. Tsiolkovsky, L. N. Gumilyov, V. I. Vernadsky and others.

A. L. Chizhevsky succeeded in many ways in understanding, evaluating and identifying the scale of the influence of the cosmos, and above all the Sun, on earthly life and its manifestations. This is eloquently evidenced by the titles of his works: "Physical factors of the historical process", "Earth echo of solar storms", etc.

Scientists have long paid attention to manifestations of solar activity (spots, torches on its surface, prominences). This activity, in turn, turned out to be associated with electromagnetic and other fluctuations in the world space. A. L. Chizhevsky, having carried out numerous scientific studies in astronomy, biology and history, came to the conclusion that the Sun and its activity have a very significant influence on biological and social processes on Earth (“Physical factors of the historical process”).

In 1915, 18-year-old A.L. Chizhevsky, who devotedly studied astronomy, chemistry and physics, drew attention to the synchronism of the formation of sunspots and the simultaneous intensification of hostilities on the fronts of the First World War. The accumulated and generalized statistical material allowed him to make this study scientific and convincing.

The meaning of his concept, based on rich factual material, was to prove the existence of cosmic rhythms and the dependence of biological and social life on Earth on the pulse of space. K. E. Tsiolkovsky assessed the work of his colleague as follows: “The young scientist is trying to discover a functional relationship between the behavior of mankind and fluctuations in the activity of the Sun, and by calculations to determine the rhythm, cycles and periods of these changes and fluctuations, thus creating a new sphere of human knowledge. All these broad generalizations and bold thoughts are expressed by Chizhevsky for the first time, which gives them great value and arouses interest. This work is an example of the fusion of various sciences together on the monistic basis of physical and mathematical analysis” 1 .

Only many years later, the thoughts and conclusions expressed by A. L. Chizhevsky about the influence of the Sun on terrestrial processes were confirmed in practice. Numerous observations have shown an undeniable dependence of mass bursts of neuropsychiatric and cardiovascular diseases in people during periodic cycles of solar activity. Forecasts of so-called "bad days" for health are commonplace these days.

Chizhevsky's idea is interesting that magnetic disturbances on the Sun, due to the unity of the Cosmos, can seriously affect the problem of the health of state leaders. After all, at the head of most governments in many countries are middle-aged people. The rhythms occurring on Earth and in space, of course, affect their health and well-being. This is especially dangerous in conditions of totalitarian, dictatorial regimes. And if immoral or mentally handicapped individuals are at the head of the state, then their pathological reactions to cosmic perturbations can lead to unpredictable and tragic consequences both for the peoples of their countries and for all of humanity in conditions when many countries possess powerful weapons of destruction.

A special place is occupied by Chizhevsky's statement that the Sun significantly affects not only biological, but also social processes on Earth. Social conflicts (wars, riots, revolutions), according to A. L. Chizhevsky, are largely determined by the behavior and activity of our luminary. According to his calculations, during the minimum solar activity there is a minimum of mass active social manifestations in society (approximately 5%). During the peak of solar activity, their number reaches 60%.

Many of the ideas of A. L. Chizhevsky have found their application in the field of space and biological sciences. They confirm the inseparable unity of man and the cosmos, point to their close mutual influence.

Very original were the space ideas of the first representative of Russian cosmism N. F. Fedorova. He had high hopes for the future development of science. It is she, according to N.F. Fedorov, who will help a person to prolong his life, and in the future make him immortal. The resettlement of people on other planets due to the large accumulation will become a necessary reality. Space for Fedorov is an active field of human activity. In the middle of the XIX century. he proposed his own version of the movement of people in outer space. According to the thinker, for this it will be necessary to master the electromagnetic energy of the globe, which will allow to regulate its movement in world space and turn the Earth into a spacecraft (“earth rover”) for flights into space. IN

K. E. Tsiolkovsky. He also owns a number of original philosophical ideas. Life, according to Tsiolkovsky, is eternal. “After each death, the same thing happens - scattering ... We have always lived and will always live, but each time in a new form and, of course, without memory of the past ... A piece of matter is subject to an innumerable series of lives, although separated by huge intervals of time..." 1 . In this, the thinker is very close to the Hindu teachings on the transmigration of souls, as well as to Democritus.

1 Tsiolkovsky K.E.

This is how Tsiolkovsky imagines the technology of "humanitarian aid". "Perfect World" takes care of everything. On other, lower development planets, he is supported and encouraged "only the good." “Every deviation towards evil or suffering is carefully corrected. Which way? Yes, by means of selection: the bad, or those who deviate towards the bad, are left without offspring... The power of the perfect ones penetrates all planets, all possible places of life, and everywhere. These places are populated by their own mature kind. Isn't this like a gardener destroying all the unusable plants on his land and leaving only the best vegetables! If intervention does not help, and nothing but suffering is foreseen, then the whole living world is painlessly destroyed...” 1 .

\ Tsiolkovsky K.E. Decree. op. - S. 378-379.

In the future, according to Fedorov's plans, man will unite all the worlds and become a "planetary engineer". This will especially closely manifest the unity of man and the cosmos.

The ideas of N. F. Fedorov about the resettlement of people on other planets were developed by a brilliant scientist in the field of rocket science K. E. Tsiolkovsky. He also owns a number of original philosophical ideas. Life, according to Tsiolkovsky, is eternal. “After each death, the same thing happens - scattering ... We have always lived and will always live, but each time in a new form and, of course, without memory of the past ... A piece of matter is subject to an innumerable series of lives, although separated by huge intervals of time..." 1 . In this, the thinker is very close to the Hindu teachings on the transmigration of souls, as well as to Democritus.

Based on the fundamentally dialectical idea of ​​universal life, everywhere and always existing through moving and eternally living atoms, Tsiolkovsky tried to build an integral framework of "cosmic philosophy".

The scientist believed that life and intelligence on Earth are not the only ones in the universe. True, he used as evidence only the assertion that the Universe is unlimited, and considered this quite sufficient. Otherwise, "what would be the meaning of the Universe if it were not filled with an organic, intelligent, sentient world?" Based on the comparative youth of the Earth, he concludes that life is much more perfect on other "older planets" 2 . Moreover, it actively influences other levels of life, including the earthly one.

In his philosophical ethics, Tsiolkovsky is purely rationalistic and consistent. Elevating the idea of ​​constant improvement of matter to an absolute, Tsiolkovsky sees this process as follows. Outer space that has no boundaries is inhabited by intelligent beings of various levels of development. There are planets that, in terms of the development of intelligence and power, have reached the highest level and are ahead of others. These "perfect" planets, having gone through all the torments of evolution and knowing their sad past and past imperfection, have

" Tsiolkovsky K.E. Dreams of earth and sky. - Tula: Approx. book. publishing house, 1986. -S. 380-381.

2 Tsiolkovsky K.E. Decree. op. - S. 378-379.

the moral right to regulate life on other, so far primitive planets, to save their population from the pangs of development.

This is how Tsiolkovsky imagines the technology of "humanitarian aid". "Perfect World" takes care of everything. On other, lower development planets them“only the good” is supported and encouraged. “Every deviation towards evil or suffering is carefully corrected. Which way? Yes, by means of selection: the bad, or those who deviate towards the bad, are left without offspring... The power of the perfect ones penetrates all planets, all possible places of life, and everywhere. These places are populated by their own mature kind. Isn't this like a gardener destroying all the unusable plants on his land and leaving only the best vegetables! If intervention does not help, and nothing but suffering is foreseen, then the whole living world is painlessly destroyed...” 1 .

K. E. Tsiolkovsky most deeply of his contemporaries studied and covered philosophical problems of space exploration. He believed that the Earth in the Universe has a special role. Earth refers to the later planets, "promising." Only a small number of such planets will be given the right to independent development and torment, including the Earth.

In the course of evolution, over time, a union of all intelligent higher beings of the cosmos will be formed. First - in the form of a union of those inhabiting the nearest suns, then - a union of unions, and so on, ad infinitum, since the Universe itself is infinite.

The moral, cosmic task of the Earth is to contribute to the improvement of the cosmos. Earthlings can justify their high mission in improving the world only by leaving the Earth and going into space. Therefore, Tsiolkovsky sees his personal task in helping earthlings to organize resettlement to other planets and their settlement throughout the Universe. He emphasized that the essence of his cosmic philosophy is "in migration from the Earth and in the settlement of the Cosmos." That is why the invention of the rocket for Tsiolkovsky was by no means an end in itself (as some believe, seeing in him only a rocket scientist), but a method of penetrating into the depths of space.

1 Tsiolkovsky K.E. Decree. op. - S. 378-379.

The scientist believed that many millions of years gradually improve the nature of man and his social organization. In the course of evolution, the human body will undergo significant changes that will turn a person, in essence, into a rational "animal-plant", artificially processing solar energy. Thus, full scope for his will and independence from the environment will be achieved. In the end, humanity will be able to exploit the entire circumsolar space and solar energy. And over time, the terrestrial population will settle throughout the circumsolar space.

The ideas of K. E. Tsiolkovsky about the unity of the various worlds of space, its constant improvement, including man himself, about the exit of mankind into space, contain an important philosophical and humanistic meaning.

Today, practical problems of man's influence on space are already arising. Thus, in connection with regular space flights, there is a possibility of unintentional introduction into space, in particular to other planets, of living organisms. A number of terrestrial bacteria are able to withstand the most extreme temperature, radiation and other conditions of existence for a long time. The temperature amplitude of existence in some species of unicellular organisms reaches 600 degrees. It is impossible to predict how they will behave in a different unearthly environment.

At present, people are beginning to actively use space to solve specific technological problems, whether it is the cultivation of rare crystals, welding, and other work. And space satellites have long been recognized as a means of collecting and transmitting various information.

7.5. Contradictions in the system: nature-biosphere-man

The relationship between nature and society cannot be considered outside the contradictions that inevitably arise and exist between them. The history of the coexistence of man and nature is a unity of two tendencies.

First, with the development of society and its productive forces, the domination of man over nature is constantly and rapidly expanding. Today it is manifested already on a planetary scale. Secondly, the contradictions and disharmony between man and nature are constantly deepening.

Nature, despite all the countless diversity of its constituent parts, is a single whole. That is why the influence of a person on separate parts of an outwardly submissive and peaceful nature at the same time has an impact, moreover, regardless of the will of people, and on its other components. The results of the response are often unpredictable and difficult to predict. A person plows the land, helping the growth of plants useful to him, but due to mistakes in agriculture, the fertile layer is washed away. Deforestation for farmland deprives the soil of sufficient moisture, and as a result, the fields soon become barren. The destruction of predators reduces the resistance of herbivores and worsens their gene pool. Such a "black list" of local influences of man and the response of nature can be continued indefinitely.

Ignoring by man the integral dialectical nature of nature leads to negative consequences both for it and for society. F. Engels farsightedly wrote about this at one time: “Let us, however, not be too deceived by our victories over nature. For each such victory, she takes revenge on us. Each of these victories, it is true, first of all has the consequences that we expected, but secondly and thirdly, completely different, unforeseen consequences, which very often destroy the consequences of the first ones.

Gaps in the general level of culture, ignoring by generations of people the patterns and characteristics of the living world, unfortunately, is a sad reality even today. Bitter evidence of how stubbornly humanity does not want to learn from its own mistakes can be rivers that have become shallow after deforestation, saline as a result of illiterate irrigation and have become unsuitable for agriculture, dry seas (Aral Sea), etc.

Negative for both nature and society is the unceremonious interference of man in the environment.

1 Marx K., Engels F. Op. T. 20. - S. 495.

environment today, because its consequences due to the high level of development of productive forces are often of a global nature and give rise to global environmental problems.

The term "ecology", first used by a German biologist E. Haeckel in 1866, denotes science about the relationship of living organisms with the environment. The scientist believed that the new science would deal only with the relationship of animals and plants with their environment. However, speaking today about the problems of ecology (this term has firmly entered our lives in the 70s of the XX century), we actually mean social ecology -a science that studies the problems of interaction between society and the environment.

Today, the ecological situation in the world can be described as close to critical. The first UN Conference on the Environment in 1972 officially stated the presence on Earth of a global ecological crisis of the entire biosphere. Today there are no longer local (regional), but global(worldwide) ecological problems:

thousands of species of plants and animals have been destroyed and continue to be destroyed; the forest cover has been largely destroyed; the available stock of minerals is rapidly declining; the world ocean is not only depleted as a result of the destruction of living organisms, but also ceases to be a regulator of natural processes; the atmosphere in many places is polluted to the maximum permissible standards, clean air becomes scarce; there is practically not a single square meter of surface on Earth where elements artificially created by man are not located.

With the beginning of space flights, the problems of ecology have moved to open space. Unutilized waste from human space activities is accumulating in space, which is also becoming an increasingly acute problem. Even on the Moon, American astronauts discovered numerous fragments and remnants of artificial satellites of the Earth, sent there at one time by mankind. Today we can already talk about the problem of space ecology. The question of the influence of space flights on the appearance of ozone holes in the Earth's atmosphere has not been resolved.

There was another previously unknown problem - ecology and human health. Pollution of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and soil

led to the growth and change in the structure of human diseases. There are new diseases brought by civilization: allergic, radiation, toxic. There are genetic changes in the body. Due to the extremely unfavorable environmental situation in large industrial cities, the number of diseases of the upper respiratory tract has increased many times over. The ultra-high rhythm of life and information overload have led to the fact that the curve of cardiovascular, neuropsychic, oncological diseases has made a sharp jump up.

It becomes quite obvious that the consumer attitude of man to nature is harmful only as an object of obtaining certain wealth and benefits. For humanity today, it is vital to change the attitude towards nature and, ultimately, towards oneself.

What are ways of solving environmental problems^. First of all, it is necessary to move from a consumerist, technocratic approach to nature to a search for harmony with her. For this, in particular, a number of targeted measures are needed to greening production: the use of environmentally friendly technologies and industries, the mandatory environmental review of new projects, and ideally, the creation of waste-free closed-cycle technologies that are harmless both to nature and human health. Relentless, strict control over the production of foodstuffs is needed, which is already being carried out in many civilized countries.

In addition, constant care is needed to maintain a dynamic balance between nature and man. A person should not only take from nature, but also give to it (planting forests, fish farming, organizing national parks, nature reserves, etc.).

However, the listed and other measures can bring a tangible effect only if the efforts of all countries are combined to save nature. The first attempt at such an international association was made at the beginning of our century. In November 1913, the first international conference on nature conservation was held in Switzerland with the participation of representatives of 18 largest states of the world. Today, interstate forms of cooperation are reaching a qualitatively new level. International concepts for the protection of the environment are being concluded

living environment, various joint developments and programs are being carried out. Active activity of the "green" (public organizations for the protection of the environment - "Greenpeace"). Green Cross Green Crescent Environmental International is currently developing a program to address the problem of "ozone holes" in the Earth's atmosphere. However, it should be recognized that due to the very different levels of socio-political development of the world's states, international cooperation in the environmental sphere is still very far from the desired and necessary level.

Another measure aimed at improving the relationship between man and nature is reasonable self-restraint in the expenditure of natural resources, especially energy sources, which are of paramount importance for the life of mankind. Calculations by international experts show that, based on the current level of consumption, coal reserves will last for 430 years, oil - for 35 years, natural gas - for 50 years. The period, especially in terms of oil reserves, is not so long. In this regard, reasonable structural changes are needed in the global energy balance towards expanding the use of nuclear energy, as well as the search for new, efficient, safe and most environmentally friendly energy sources.

Another important direction in solving the environmental problem is the formation in society ecological consciousness, understanding of nature as another being, over which one cannot rule without harming oneself. Ecological education and upbringing in society should be put on the state level and carried out from early childhood.

With great difficulty, making painful mistakes, humanity is gradually becoming more and more aware of the need to move from a consumerist attitude to nature to harmony with it.

Review questions

1. What is the difference between the concepts: "living matter", "biosphere", "biocenosis", "biogeocenosis"?

2. What is the nature of the evolution and development of the biosphere? What is the essence of the teachings of V. I. Vernadsky about the biosphere and noosphere?

3. What is the essence of the concepts of geographical determinism? What is rational in them, and what is exaggerated?

4. What is the relationship between the concepts: "nature", "geographical environment", "environment"?

5. What is the technosphere? What is its role in the evolution of the biosphere?

6. What is the mutual influence of space and the Earth? What characteristic did the representatives of Russian cosmism notice in these relationships?

7. What is the inconsistency of the relationship between man and nature?

> Second law of thermodynamics

Wording second law of thermodynamics in simple words: heat transfer process, entropy and temperature, connection with the first law of thermodynamics, formula.

According to the second law of thermodynamics, heat transfer occurs spontaneously from higher to lower temperatures.

Learning task

• Compare the irreversibility between the first and second laws of thermodynamics.

Key Points

• Many of the phenomena admitted in the first law do not occur in reality.
• Most processes occur spontaneously in one direction. The second law is related to direction.
• There is no way to transport heat from a cold to a warm body.

Terms

• Entropy is a measure of the distribution of uniform energy throughout the system.
• The first law of thermodynamics is energy conservation in thermodynamic systems (ΔU = Q - W).

irreversibility

Let's study the formulation of the second law of thermodynamics in simple words. The second law of thermodynamics is associated with the direction related to spontaneous processes. Most of them occur spontaneously and exclusively in one direction (they are irreversible). Irreversibility is often found in everyday life (broken vase). Such a process relies on a path. If it goes only in one direction, then you can not return everything back.

For example, heat transfer occurs from a hotter body to a cooler one. A cold body in contact with a hot one will never lower its temperature. Moreover, kinetic energy can become thermal energy, but not vice versa. This can also be seen in the example of the expansion of a puff of gas introduced into the corner of the vacuum chamber. The gas expands, trying to fill the space, but it will never stay exclusively in the corner.

(a) - Heat transfer occurs spontaneously from hot to cool, and not vice versa. (b) - The machine's brakes convert kinetic energy into heat transfer. (c) - A gas flash launched into a vacuum chamber expands rapidly to evenly fill the entire space with itself. Randomly moving molecules will never make him concentrate in a single corner.

Second law of thermodynamics

If there are processes that cannot reverse, then there is a law that prohibits this. Interestingly, the first law allows this, but no process violates the conservation of energy. The main law is the second. It reveals the concept of nature and some of the statements dramatically affect many important issues.

According to the second law of thermodynamics, heat transfer occurs spontaneously from bodies with higher temperatures to lower ones. But never the other way around.

The law also states that no process can result in the transfer of heat from a cold body to a hot one.

« Physics - Grade 10 "

Does the first law of thermodynamics allow spontaneous transfer of heat from a less heated body to a hotter one?
Do such processes occur in nature?

We have already noted that the first law of thermodynamics is a special case of the law of conservation of energy.

The law of conservation of energy states that the amount of energy in any of its transformations remains unchanged. Meanwhile, many processes that are quite admissible from the point of view of the law of conservation of energy never occur in reality.

For example, from the point of view of the first law of thermodynamics in an isolated system, the transfer of heat from a less heated body to a hotter one is possible if the amount of heat received by the hot body is exactly equal to the amount of heat given off by the cold body. At the same time, our experience suggests that this is not possible.

The first law of thermodynamics does not indicate the direction of processes.

The second law of thermodynamics.

The second law of thermodynamics indicates the direction of possible energy transformations, that is, the direction of processes, and thereby expresses the irreversibility of processes in nature. This law was established by direct generalization of experimental facts.

There are several formulations of the second law, which, despite their external differences, express essentially the same thing and are therefore equivalent.

The German scientist R. Clausius (1822-1888) formulated this law as follows:

It is impossible to transfer heat from a colder system to a hotter one in the absence of other simultaneous changes in both systems or in the surrounding bodies.

Here the experimental fact of a certain direction of heat transfer is stated: heat always transfers by itself from hot bodies to cold ones. It is true that in refrigeration plants heat is transferred from a cold body to a warmer one, but this transfer is connected with other changes in the surrounding bodies: cooling is achieved through work.

The importance of this law is that it can be used to conclude that not only the heat transfer process is irreversible, but also other processes in nature.

Consider an example. The oscillations of the pendulum, taken out of the equilibrium position, fade (Fig. 13.12) 1, 2, 3, 4 - successive positions of the pendulum at maximum deviations from the equilibrium position). Due to the work of friction forces, the mechanical energy of the pendulum decreases, and the temperature of the pendulum and the surrounding air (and hence their internal energy) slightly increases.

You can again increase the swing of the pendulum by pushing it with your hand. But this increase does not occur by itself, but becomes possible as a result of a more complex process involving the movement of the hand.

Mechanical energy spontaneously transforms into internal energy, but not vice versa. In this case, the energy of the ordered motion of the body as a whole is converted into the energy of the disordered thermal motion of its constituent molecules.

Another example is the diffusion process. Opening a bottle of perfume, we quickly smell the perfume. Molecules of an aromatic substance, due to thermal motion, penetrate into the space between air molecules. It is hard to imagine that all of them again gathered in a bubble.

The number of such examples can be increased almost indefinitely. All of them say that the processes in nature have a certain direction, which is not reflected in any way in the first law of thermodynamics.

All macroscopic processes in nature proceed only in one definite direction.

In the opposite direction, they cannot flow spontaneously. All processes in nature are irreversible.

Previously, when considering processes, we assumed that they are reversible.

A reversible process is a process that can be carried out in the forward and reverse directions through the same intermediate states without changes in the surrounding bodies.

A reversible process must proceed very slowly for each intermediate state to be in equilibrium.

equilibrium state is a state in which the temperature and pressure are the same at all points in the system.

Therefore, it takes time for the system to reach an equilibrium state.

When studying isoprocesses, we assumed that the transition from the initial state to the final one passes through equilibrium states, and considered the isothermal, isobaric, and isochoric processes to be reversible.

There are no ideal reversible processes in nature, however, real processes can be considered as reversible with a certain degree of accuracy, which is very important for theory.

A vivid illustration of the irreversibility of phenomena in nature is watching a movie in the opposite direction.
For example, a jump into the water will look like this. Calm water in the pool begins to boil, legs appear, rapidly moving upwards, and then the whole diver. The surface of the water quickly calms down. Gradually, the diver's speed decreases, and now he is calmly standing on the tower.

Such a process as the ascension of a diver to a tower from the water does not contradict either the law of conservation of energy, or the laws of mechanics, or any laws in general, except for the second law of thermodynamics.

No engine can convert heat into work with 100% efficiency. (2) entropy cannot decrease in a closed system. (3).

Natural processes are inherently directed and irreversible, but most of the laws described in this book do not reflect this - at least not explicitly. Breaking eggs and making scrambled eggs is not difficult, but it is impossible to recreate raw eggs from ready-made scrambled eggs.
. The smell from an open bottle of perfume fills the room - but you can't collect it back into the bottle. And the reason for such irreversibility of the processes occurring in the universe lies in the second law of thermodynamics, which, for all its apparent simplicity, is one of the most difficult and often misunderstood laws of classical physics.

First of all, this law has at least three equal formulations proposed in different years by physicists of different generations. It may seem that there is nothing in common between them, but they are all logically equivalent to each other. From any formulation of the second law, two others are mathematically deduced.

We will start with the first formulation, which belongs to the German physicist Rudolf Clausius (see the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. Here is a simple and clear illustration of this formulation: we take an ice cube from the refrigerator and put it in the sink. After some time, the ice cube will melt, because the heat from of a warmer body (air) will be transferred to a colder one (ice cube. From the point of view of the law of conservation of energy, there is no reason for thermal energy to be transferred in this direction: even if the ice became colder and the air warmer, the law of conservation of energy The fact that this does not happen is just evidence of the already mentioned direction of physical processes.

Why ice and air interact in this way, we can easily explain by considering this interaction at the molecular level. From molecular kinetic theory, we know that temperature reflects the speed of movement of body molecules - the faster they move, the higher the temperature of the body. This means that air molecules move faster than water molecules in an ice cube. When an air molecule collides with a water molecule on the surface of ice, as experience tells us, fast molecules, on average, slow down, and slow ones accelerate. Thus, the water molecules begin to move faster and faster, or, equivalently, the temperature of the ice rises. This is what we mean when we say that heat is transferred from air to ice. And within the framework of this model, the first formulation of the second law of thermodynamics follows logically from the behavior of molecules.

When a body moves a certain distance under the action of a certain force, work is done, and various forms of energy just express the ability of the system to produce a certain work. Since heat, which reflects the kinetic energy of molecules, is a form of energy, it can also be converted into work. But again we are dealing with a directed process. You can convert work into heat with 100% efficiency - you do it every time you press the brake pedal in your car: all the kinetic energy of your car's movement plus the energy you expended on pressing the pedal through the work of your foot and the hydraulic brake system is completely converted into heat released during the friction of the pads on the brake discs. The second formulation of the second law of thermodynamics states that the reverse process is impossible. No matter how hard you try to turn all thermal energy into work, heat losses to the environment are inevitable.

It is easy to illustrate the second formulation in action. Imagine the cylinder of your car's internal combustion engine. A high-octane fuel mixture is injected into it, which is compressed by the piston to a high pressure, after which it ignites in a small gap between the cylinder head and a freely moving piston tightly fitted to the cylinder walls. During the explosive combustion of the mixture, a significant amount of heat is released in the form of hot and expanding combustion products, the pressure of which pushes the piston down. In an ideal world, we could achieve an efficiency of 100% use of the released thermal energy, completely converting it into the mechanical work of the piston.

In the real world, no one will ever assemble such an ideal engine for two reasons. Firstly, the walls of the cylinder inevitably heat up as a result of the combustion of the working mixture, part of the heat is lost in vain and is removed through the cooling system to the environment. Secondly, part of the work inevitably goes into overcoming the friction force, as a result of which, again, the cylinder walls heat up - another heat loss (even with the best engine oil. Thirdly, the cylinder needs to return to its original compression point, and this also work to overcome friction with the release of heat, spent in vain.As a result, we have what we have, namely: the most advanced heat engines operate with an efficiency of no more than 50%.

This interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics is based on the Carnot principle, which is named after the French military engineer Sadi Carnot. It was formulated earlier than others and had a huge impact on the development of engineering technology for many generations to come, although it is of an applied nature. It acquires great importance from the point of view of modern energy - the most important branch of any national economy. Today, faced with a shortage of fuel resources, humanity, nevertheless, is forced to put up with the fact that the efficiency, for example, of thermal power plants operating on coal or fuel oil does not exceed 30-35% - that is, two-thirds of the fuel is burned in vain, more precisely, it is spent to warm the atmosphere - and this is in the face of the threat of global warming. That is why modern thermal power plants are easy to recognize by their colossal towers - cooling towers - it is in them that the water cools the turbines of electric generators, and excess thermal energy is released into the environment. And such a low efficiency in the use of resources is not the fault, but the misfortune of modern design engineers: they already squeeze out close to the maximum of what the Carnot cycle allows. Those who claim to have found a solution that allows them to drastically reduce the heat loss of energy (for example, designed a perpetual motion machine), thereby claim that they have outwitted the second law of thermodynamics. They might as well claim that they know how to make sure that the ice cube in the sink does not melt at room temperature, but, on the contrary, cools even more, while heating the air.

The third formulation of the second law of thermodynamics, usually attributed to the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (see Boltzmann's constant), is perhaps the best known. Entropy is a measure of the disorder of a system. The higher the entropy, the more chaotic the movement of the material particles that make up the system. Boltzmann succeeded in developing a formula for a direct mathematical description of the degree of order in a system. Let's see how it works using water as an example. In the liquid state, water is a rather disordered structure, since the molecules move freely relative to each other, and their spatial orientation can be arbitrary. Another thing is ice - in it the water molecules are ordered, being included in the crystal lattice. The formulation of the second law of Boltzmann's thermodynamics, relatively speaking, says that ice, having melted and turned into water (a process accompanied by a decrease in the degree of order and an increase in entropy), will never be reborn from water by itself. And again we see an example of an irreversible natural physical phenomenon.

It is important to understand here that we are not talking about the fact that in this formulation the second law of thermodynamics proclaims that entropy cannot decrease anywhere and never. Finally, the melted ice can be put back into the freezer and re-frozen. The point is that entropy cannot decrease in closed systems - that is, in systems that do not receive external energy supply. A working refrigerator is not an isolated closed system, since it is connected to the power supply and receives energy from outside - ultimately, from the power plants that produce it. In this case, the closed system will be a refrigerator, plus wiring, plus a local transformer substation, plus a unified power supply network, plus power plants. And since the increase in entropy due to random evaporation from the cooling towers of a power plant is many times greater than the decrease in entropy due to the crystallization of ice in your refrigerator, the second law of thermodynamics is not violated in any way.

And this, I believe, leads to another formulation of the second law: the refrigerator does not work if it is not plugged in. James Trefil, "The nature of science. 200 laws of the universe."

• · Postulate of Clausius: “There is no process whose only result would be the transfer of heat from a colder body to a hotter one”(this process is called Clausius process).
• · Thomson (Kelvin) postulate: “There is no circular process, the only result of which would be the production of work by cooling the heat reservoir”(this process is called Thomson process).

The equivalence of these formulations is easy to show. Indeed, suppose that Clausius' postulate is wrong, that is, there is a process whose only result would be the transfer of heat from a colder body to a hotter one. Then we take two bodies with different temperatures (a heater and a refrigerator) and carry out several cycles of a thermal machine, taking heat from the heater, giving it to the refrigerator and doing work

After that, we use the Clausius process and return the heat from the refrigerator to the heater. As a result, it turns out that we did the work only due to the removal of heat from the heater, that is, Thomson's postulate is also incorrect.

On the other hand, suppose that Thomson's postulate is wrong. Then you can take away part of the heat from a colder body and turn it into mechanical work. This work can be converted into heat, for example, by means of friction, heating a hotter body. Hence, the incorrectness of Clausius's postulate follows from the incorrectness of Thomson's postulate.

Thus, the postulates of Clausius and Thomson are equivalent.

Another formulation of the second law of thermodynamics is based on the concept of entropy:

· "The entropy of an isolated system cannot decrease" (the law of non-decreasing entropy).

Such a formulation is based on the idea of ​​entropy as a function of the state of the system, which must also be postulated.

The second law of thermodynamics in the axiomatic formulation of Rudolf Julius Clausius (R. J. Clausius, 1865) has the following form:

For any quasi-equilibrium thermodynamic system, there is a single-valued thermodynamic state function

called entropy, such that its total differential

In a state with maximum entropy, macroscopic irreversible processes (and the process of heat transfer is always irreversible due to the Clausius postulate) are impossible.

The limitations of the derivation of the formula for the entropy differential given by Clausius lie in the assumption that the gas is ideal, the properties of which lead to the existence of an integrating factor. This shortcoming was eliminated by Carathéodory in his work On the Foundations of Thermodynamics (1909). Carathéodory considered the set of states achievable adiabatically (i.e., without heat exchange with the environment). The equation describing such a set of these states in differential form is the Pfaffian form. Using the integrability conditions for Pfaffian forms known from analysis, Carathéodory arrived at the following formulation of the second law:

· In the vicinity of any state of the system, there are states that are not reachable by the adiabatic path.

Such a statement does not limit systems that obey the second law of thermodynamics, only to ideal gases and bodies capable of completing a closed cycle when interacting with them. The physical meaning of Carathéodory's axiom repeats the formulation of Clausius.

The second law is related to the concept of entropy, which is a measure of chaos (or a measure of order). The second law of thermodynamics states that for the universe as a whole, entropy increases.

There are two classical definitions of the second law of thermodynamics:

Kelvin and Planck

There is no cyclical process that extracts an amount of heat from a reservoir at a certain temperature and completely converts this heat into work. (It is impossible to build an intermittent machine that does nothing but lift a load and cool a heat reservoir.)

· Clausius

There is no process, the only result of which is the transfer of heat from a less heated body to a hotter one. (A circular process is impossible, the only result of which would be the production of work by cooling the thermal reservoir)

Both definitions of the second law of thermodynamics rely on the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy decreases.