Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a recent
discussion-list post "Re: Entropy again"[Hake (2012)]. The abstract
reads:
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ABSTRACT: Antti Savinainen in his Phys-L post "Entropy again"
wrote that: (a) he was about to teach entropy at the high school
level but realized that the syllabus statement "entropy is a system
property that expresses the degree of disorder in the system" was not
a satisfactory characterization of entropy; and (b) "it would be
interesting to hear ideas on how to define or characterize entropy at
an introductory level."
Antti pointed to 4 references on entropy by Denker, Lambert, and Leff
that he regarded as "useful, or at least interesting." I add 6 more
references to Antti's list and then quote portions of Denker's
response to Antti, in which Denker advocates the "probabilistic
approach" to entropy and severely criticizes the spreading metaphor
of Lambert and Leff.
Henri Poncare wrote: "When we say force is the cause of motion we
talk metaphysics, and this definition, if we were content with it,
would be absolutely sterile. FOR A DEFINITION TO BE OF ANY USE, IT
MUST TEACH US TO MEASURE FORCE; moreover, that suffices; it is not at
all necessary that it teach us what force is in itself, nor whether
it is the cause or the effect of motion."
Likewise, in discussions of entropy it would seem worthwhile to
specify HOW ENTROPY CAN BE MEASURED. Leff (2012) does so in the
context of the 'spreading metaphor." I wonder if Denker could explain
how his favored "probabilistic approach" specifies how to physically
MEASURE entropy in real substances?
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"Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and
memory. It instigates to invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like
passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving. Not that it always
effects this result; but that conflict is a sine qua non of
reflection and ingenuity."
John Dewey "Morals Are Human," Dewey: Middle Works, Vol.14, p. 207
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on
07 Jan 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. "Re: Entropy again," online on the OPEN! AERA-L
archives at <http://bit.ly/zVixYk>. Post of 7 Jan 2012 14:51:15-0800
to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post
are being transmitted to several discussion lists and are also on my
blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/wZriME> with a provision for
comments.
Leff, H. 2012. "Removing the Mystery of Entropy and Thermodynamics -
Part I," Phys. Teach. 50(1): 28-31; online to subscribers at
<http://bit.ly/wLy3En>. Parts II-V will be published in Phys.Teach 50
(2012).