Re: Order being born from disorder?

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@sfu.ca>]

> Small pieces move randomly till they meet and link
> permanently by molecular forces. The irreversibility of linking is the
> mechanism by which "order is born from disorder". I am using these strong
> words without any evidence that the entropy of a clustered pattern is
> lower than the entropy of a really random distribution for a given number
> of particles. Any idea how to calculate the entropy of a pattern?

Sure, but entropy has very little to do with order, a drum I've beaten
here before. I assure you that the entropy of the system increases (and
I'll tell you how if you don't figure it out first yourself) when the
particles stick together. You may also perceive that the order increases,
and I would agree with you. That should be sufficient to rupture your
implicit connection between entropy and disorder.

Leigh