Evolution
Encyclopedia Vol. 3
Chapter 25
LAWS OF NATURE
Supplementary Material
UNIVERSALITY OF THE SECOND LAW
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is unalterable, unchangeable by any created being. The
solidity of this law is such that the greatest men of science have humbly acknowledged its
rule. Here are several statements by men of science on this subject:
"The most important and best-proved law in science . . the most powerful and most
fundamental generalization about the universe."
"The Law of Energy Conservation'Energy can be converted from one form
into another, but can neither be created nor destroyed,'is the most important and
best-proved law in science.
"This law is considered the most powerful and most fundamental generalization
about the universe that scientists have ever been able to make." *Isaac
Asimov, "In the Game of Energy and Thermodynamics You Can't Even Break Even, "
Journal of Smithsonian Institute, June 1970, p. 8.
It never breaks down under any circumstances.
"There is thus no justification for the view, often glibly repeated, that the
Second Law of Thermodynamics is only statistically true, in the sense that microscopic
violations repeatedly occur, but never violations of any serious magnitude. On the
contrary, no evidence has ever been presented that the Second Law breaks down under any
circumstances." *A.B. Pippard, Elements of Chemical Thermodynamics for
Advanced Students of Physics (1986), p. 100.
None of us can overcome the effects of the Second Law.
"What the second Law tells us, then, it that in the great game of the
universe, we not only cannot win; we cannot even break even)" *I. Asimov,
"In the Game of Energy and Thermodynamics You Can't Even Break Even, " in
Journal of Smithsonian Institute, June 1970, p. 8.
There is no region of the universe where it does not apply.
"Entropy is a property which is defined for and true of each and every part of
the universe. There is no evidence whatever than there is a region of the universe where
the second law does not apply. Laws of science are universals and the denial of this fact
is question-begging." *J.P. Moreland, Universals, Qualities, and Quality
Instances: A Defense of Realism (1985).
"One of the most fundamental, best-established laws in all of science."
"Thermodynamics is an exact science which deals with energy. The second law of
thermodynamics is one of the most fundamental, best-established laws in all of science.
The second law involves a concept known as entropy. Entropy can be understood in terms of
energy, disorder, or information. The second law states that the entropy of the universe
for any closed system therein, where an isolated system is one which has neither mass nor
energy flow in or out of the system) is increasing. Put differently, the amount of energy
available to do work is decreasing and becoming uniformly distributed. The universe is
moving irreversibly toward a state of maximum disorder and minimum energy."
*B. Davies, God and the New Physics, p. 11.
It is so broad and general, it can be stated in a variety of ways.
"It is a very broad and very general law, and because its applications are so
varied it may be stated in a great variety of ways." *E. S Greens,
Principles of Physics (1982), p. 310.
"There are many ways of stating what is called the Second Law of
Thermodynamics . . all of them are equivalent although some very sophisticated mathematics
and physics is involved in the showing the equivalence." *Isaac Asimov,
"In the Game of Energy and Thermodynamics, You Can't Even Break Even," Journal
of the Smithsonian Institute, June 1970, p. 8.
Nothing defeats its operation.
"No matter how carefully we examine the energetics of living systems we end no
evidence of defeat of thermodynamic principles." *Harold Glum, Time's Arrow
and Evolution (1962), p. 119.
"The most secure generalization that we have."
"The two laws of thermodynamics are, I suppose, accepted by physic as perhaps
the, most secure generalizations from experience that we have. The physicist does not
hesitate to apply the two laws to any concrete physical situation in the confidence that
nature will not let him down." *P.W. Bridgman, "Reflections on
Thermodynamics," American Scientist, October 1953, p. 549.
Applies "to the whole world, and even to the whole cosmic universe."
"In its most modern forms, the Second Law is considered to have an extremely
wide range of validity. It is a remarkable illustration of the ranging power of the human
intellect that a principle first detected in connection with the clumsy puffing of a steam
engine should be found to apply to the whole world, and even to the whole cosmic
universe." *A.R. Ubbelohda, Man and Energy (1955), p. 148.
These crucial laws even govern sub-atomic particles.
"Thousands of laboratory experiments, performed in different ways and
measuring all the quantities involved, have confirmed that the laws of conservation of
energy and momentum do hold true in the domain of elementary particles . . It is clear
that the laws of conservation of energy and momentum, introduced . . to describe
collisions between macroscopic bodies, also apply with remarkable accuracy to the
collisions and interactions of sub-atomic particles." *G. Feinberg and *M.
Goldhaber, "The Conservation Laws of Physics, " in Scientific American, October
1983, pp. 39, 42.
It tells where everything is headed, but it does not tell when.
"The second law of thermodynamics points the direction of events in time, but does
not tell when or how fast they will go." *H.F. Blum, Time's Arrow and
Evolution, (1982), p. v., 16.
"It is important to realize, however, that thermodynamics cannot predict the
rate at which a reaction will proceed and does not tell us anything of the mechanism of
the reaction." *B. Mason, Principles of Geochemistry, 2nd Edition, (1980),
p. 88.
Here are several statements about the universal and unalterable nature of the First
Law:
"This [first) law is considered to be the most powerful and most fundamental
generalization about the universe that scientists have ever been able to make."
*Isaac
Asimov, "In the Game of Energy and Thermodynamics You Can't Even Break Even, "in
Journal of Smithsonian Institute, June 1970, p. e.
"Energy appears in various forms: heat, light, kinetic energy, mechanical
work, chemical energy, and so forth. Energy can change its form but not its
quantitythis is a statement of the first law of thermodynamics, which until
quite recently could be accepted without qualification. We know, now, that matter is
another form of energy, but that does not alter this fundamental principle which is also
called the law of conservation of energy." *Harold F. Blum, Time's Arrow and
Evolution, (1982), p. 14.
"The physicist's confidence in the conservation principles rests on long and
thoroughgoing experience. The conservation of energy, of momentum, and of electric charge
have been found to hold, within the limits of accuracy of measurement, in every case that
has been studied. An elaborate structure of physical theory has been built on these
fundamental concepts, and its predictions have been confirmed without fail."
*G.
Feinberg and *M. Goldhaber, "The Conservation Laws of Physics," in Scientific
American, October 1983, p. 38.
ENTROPY IS ALWAYS INCREASING
The Second Law produces entropy, or increasing disorder. This point is important, since
evolutionary theory is a flat denial of it.
The leading science writer of the mid-20th century says, "All changes are in the
direction of increasing entropy." That would then have to include evolutionary
changes, yet those changes are, by definition, supposed to produce decreasing entropy.
"As far as we know, all changes are in the direction of increasing entropy, of
increasing disorder, of increasing randomness, of running down." *Isaac
Asimov, "Can Decreasing Entropy Exist in the Universe?" in Science Digest, May
1973, p. 78.
Here is a description of the First and Second Laws and of the entropy produced by the
Second Law:
"In any energy conversionsuch as, electric energy into light energy, or
magnetic energy into energy of motionsome of the energy is wasted. It is not
lostthat would be contrary to the first law; but it is converted to heat that is
dissipated in the environment.
"The capacity of any system to perform work is its free energy. The portion of the
energy that is unavoidably lost as non-useful heat is reflected in measurement of
entropya term first used in 1850 by the German physicist Rudolf Julian Emmanuel
Clausius.
"Clausius pointed out that, in any process involving a flow of energy, there is
always some loss, so that the entropy of the universe is continually increasing. This
continual increase of entropy is the second law of thermodynamics, sometimes referred to
as the 'running-down of the universe' or the 'heat-death of the universe."
*Isaac
Asimov, Asimov's New Guide to Science, (1920), p. 399.
Here are several definitions of entropy:
"In any physical change that takes place by itself the entropy always
increases. (Entropy is "a measure of the quantity of energy not capable of conversion
into work")" *Isaac Asimov, "In the Game of Energy and
Thermodynamics, You Can't Even Break Even" Journal of the Smithsonian Institute, June
1970, p. 8.
"Each quantity of energy has a characteristic quality called entropy associated
with it. The entropy measures the degree of disorder associated with the energy. Energy
must always flow in such a direction that the entropy increases." *F.J.
Dyson, "Energy in the Universe," Scientific American, Vol. 224 September 1971,
p. 52.
"Entropy, in short, is the measurement of molecular disorder. The law of the
irreversible increase in entropy is a law of progressive disorganization, of the complete
disappearance of the initial conditions." *Ilya Prigogine, "Can
Thermodynamics Explain Biological Order?" Impact of Science on Society, Vol.
XXIII,
No. 3., 1973, p. 162. (Faculty of Sciences, University Libra de Belgique; Prigogine is one
of the world's leading thermodynamicists.]
"A major consequence of the second law of thermodynamics is that all real
processes go toward a condition of greater probability. The probability function generally
used in thermodynamics is entropy. Thus orderliness is associated with low entropy;
randomness with high entropy. The second law of thermodynamics says that left to itself
any isolated system will go toward greater entropy, which also means toward greater
randomness and greater likelihood." *Harold Blum, "Perspectives in
Evolution," American Scientist, October, 1955, p. 595.
"Increase in entropy means a transition from a more orderly state to a less
orderly state. . In any naturally occurring process, the tendency is for all systems to
proceed from order to disorder." *R. B. Lindsay, "Entropy Consumption
and Values in Physical Science, " American Scientist, September 1959, p. 382.
"All real processes go with an increase in entropy. The entropy also measures the
randomness or lack of orderliness of the system, the greater the randomness the greater
the entropy; the idea of a continual tendency toward greater randomness provides the most
fundamental way of viewing the second law." *Harold F. Blum, Time's Arrow
and Evolution, (1962), p. 15.
Here is the Second Law in action:
"Man has long been aware that his world has a tendency to fall apart. Tools wear
out, fishing nets need repair, roofs leak, iron rusts, wood decays, loved ones sicken and
die.. We instinctively resent the decay of orderly systems such as the living organism and
work to restore such systems to their former or even higher level of organization."
*V.R.
Potter, "Society and Science," in Science, November 20, 1964, p. 1018.
"The second law of thermodynamics . . says, roughly speaking, that in any
change the Universe becomes a slightly more disorderly place; the entropy goes up, the
information content goes down. This natural tendency towards disintegration and chaos is
evident all around us: people grow old, cars rust, houses fall down, mountains erode,
stars burn out, dodos run down." *P. Davies, "Chance or Choice: Is the
Universe an Accident?" in New Scientist, 80:506 (1978).
There are no known violations of the Second Law.
"Please be advised that there are no known violations of the second law of
thermodynamics. Ordinarily the second law is stated for isolated systems, but the second
law applies equally well to open systems. However, there is somehow associated with the
field of far-from-equilibrium phenomenon the notion that the second law of thermodynamics
fails for such systems. It is important to make sure that this error does not perpetuate
itself." *D. Ross, "Letter," Chemical and Engineering News, July
7, 1974; p. 37.
The Second Law provides us with a one-way street.
"Sir Arthur Eddington showed insight when he called this [second
thermodynamic] law 'time's arrow.' for it helps illustrate nature's time sensethe
one-wayness of events. When events take place, they do so in a way that serves to
distinguish between backwards and forwards. The ancients even made lists of events which
never take place in reverse: Rivers do not flow uphill, plants and men do not grow
backwards, forest fires do not turn ashes into fully grown trees." Howard
Path, Blind Faith (1990), p. 87-88.
The entropy process is irreversible.
"It is one of this law's consequences that all real processes go irreversibly
. . Any given process in this universe is accompanied by a change in magnitude of a
quantity called the entropy. . All real processes go with an increase of entropy. The
entropy also measures the randomness or ladle of orderliness of the system, the greater
the randomness the greater the entropy." *Harold F. Blum, Time's Arrow and
Evolution (1982), p. 14.
"All observed systems go from order to disorder."
"There is a general natural tendency of all observed systems to go from order
to disorder, reflecting dissipation of energy available for future transformationthe
law of increasing entropy." *R. B. Kindsay: "PhysicsTo What
Extent is it Deterministic," in American Scientist, Vol. 156 (1973), p. 100.
Everything, everywhere in the universe, is under this entropy rule. A recent book on
stellar evolution backs this up:
"The stars, once burned out, will never spring back into life.
Technically, stellar revival is not impossibleonly so improbable that it amounts to
the same thing. The reason is entropy. The second law of thermodynamics is a simple
proposition: In any dosed system, the state of the system will evolve toward increasing
disorder.
"In a closed room, for example, one might take all the air and compress it into a
single corner, an orderly state, because the air is limited to a specific location. But if
the air was left alone, the random motions of the individual molecules would spread the
air throughout the room until it was evenly dispersed. That would be the state of maximum
disorder, since any given molecule could end up anywhere. [Theoretically] Nothing in the
laws of physics prohibits these random motions from repositioning all the air back into
the cornerand in fact, the air in any real room on Earth could do just that, leaving
its occupants gasping for breath. But considering the trillions upon trillions of
molecules involved, such a coincidence is so wildly improbable that it will never happen.
"What applies to sir molecules in a room also applies to energy in the universe.
When a star dies, having dispersed its concentrated energy into space, it will not
suddenly regather that energy and roar back to life." *Roberta Conlan,
Frontiers of Time (1991), pp. 105-108.
Star Date summarizes the problem for us:
"You may know the word `entropy.' Its a word that physicists use when talking
about the amount of disorder in a system. R appears to be a basic physical law that, in
our universe, entropy always appears to increase as a system evolves.
"In other words, once you scramble an egg, it stays scrambled; it doesn't turn
spontaneously back into a whole egg again. Likewise, tidy rooms get messy; you have to
keep cleaning your house over and over main. Or consider a sugar cube dropped into a cup
of coffee; it dissolves and disappears. It never turns back into a cube again.
"The list goes on. But the idea is, in our universe, when things are left to
themselves, they tend toward disorder. That's entropy.
"Yet, for the last several decades, the most widely believed theory about the
birth of the universe says that it began in a Big Bang; [which would be] a state of
unimaginable chaos.
"Later that chaos had to evolve into the extremely orderly structures we know
today: majestically rotating galaxies made of billions of stars; stars that cycle through
various predictable (theoretical] stages of evolution; and, last but not least, those most
complex of all known organisms: human beings, who contemplate it all.
"So how can a universe that tends toward disorder, have evolved such orderly
structures? That's one kind of question being asked today in cosmology, the study of the
whole universe." *Star Date radio broadcast, October 9, 1990.
3 -
EVOLUTION CLAIMS TO BE
ABOVE THE SECOND LAW
Zealous evolutionists claim that their theory stands above the Second Law of
Thermodynamics, that it is triumphantly resistant to all inroads by entropy, and they even
maintain that their theory is above all law! Some of them declare that evolution operates
on unknown laws we have not yet discovered!
Evolution runs counter to entropy, for by it nature is constantly increasing in
complexity and perfection.
"This direction in evolution can thus also be characterized by an increase in
complexity and independence of the environment." *J. C. Lacey, Jr. and *D.
Mullins, Jr. "Proteins and Nucleic Adds in Prebiotic Evolution, " in Molecular
Evolution: Prebiological and Biological (1972), p. 172.
Life forms are continually achieving higher levels, better life, and greater and
greater perfection in all respects.
"In the complex course of its evolution, life exhibits a remarkable contrast
to the tendency expressed in the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Where the Second Law
expresses an irreversible progression toward increased entropy and disorder, life evolves
continually higher levels of order. The still more remarkable fact is that this
evolutionary drive to greater and greater order also is irreversible. Evolution does not
go backward." *J.H. Rush, The Down of Life (1982), p. 35.
This evolutionary trend to greater complexity is said to even be the supreme ruler over
molecules, elements, inorganic substances, and everything in the universe)
"Back of the spontaneous generation of life under other conditions than now
obtain upon this planet, there occurred a spontaneous generation of elements of the kind
that still goes on in the stars; and back of that I suppose a spontaneous generation of
elementary particles under circumstances still to be fathomed, that ended in giving them
the properties that alone make possible the universe we know." *George Weld,
"Fitness in the Universe," Origins of Life, Vol. 5, 1974; p. 28. (Harvard
biologist)
Life is a "force" which does not bow to the Second Law. (If that is so,
living things ought to be immortal and eternal.)
"Life might be described as an unexpected force that somehow organizes
inanimate matter into a living system that perceives, reacts to, and evolves to cope with
changes to the physical environment that threatens to destroy its organization." *Mars
and Earth, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1975), p. 5.
It is all done magically by evolution, yet * Rifkin declares evolution's magic touch
is applied in spite of evidence to the contrary.
"We believe that evolution somehow magically creates greater overall value and
oraer on earth. Now that the environment we live in is becoming so dissipated and
disordered that it is apparent to the naked eye, we beginning for the first time to have
second thoughts about our views on evolution, progress, and the creation of things of
material value. . Evolution means the creation of larger and larger islands of order at
the expense of the ever greater sass of disorder in the world. There is not a single
biologist or physicist who can deny this central truth. Yet, who is willing to stand up in
a classroom a before a public forum and admit it?" *Jeremy
Rifkin, Entropy:
A New World View (1980), p. 55.
*Weisskopf wonders aloud how it can be that evolution can work, when the Second Law
says it can't.
"The evolutionary history of the world from the 'big bang' to the present
universe is a series of gradual steps from the simple to the complicated, from the
unordered to the organized, from the formless gas of elementary particles to the morphic
atoms and molecules and further to the still more structured liquids and solids, and
finally to the sophisticated living organisms. There is an obvious tendency of nature from
disorder to order and organization. Is this tendency in contradiction to the famous second
law of thermodynamics, which says that disorder must increase in nature? The law says that
entropy, the measure of disorder, must grow in any natural system." *Victor
f. Weisskopf, "The Frontiers and Limits of Science," American Scientist, Vol.
85, July/August 1977, p. 409:
*Toulmin is fascinated with the way in which "astronomy has proven" that
forces are at work which are outside of law. (Those "forces" he refers to
are the peculiar theories of matter exploding out of nothing (Big Bang), and interstellar
gas pushing itself together to form stars;theories which have never been observed to
have occur, and run totally contrary to physical laws. See chapters 1-3, dealing with
astronomy.)
"It seems to me astronomy has proven that forces are at work in the world that are
beyond the presets power of scientific description; these are literally supernatural
forces, because they are outside the body of natural law." *S.
Toulmin,
"Science, Philosophy of," in Encyclopedia Britannica Vol. 18 (15th ad. 1974), p.
389.
*Jastrow agrees.
"The world had a beginning under conditions in which the known laws are not valid,
and as a product of forces a circumstances we cannot discover." *Robert
Jastrow, God and the Astronomers (1978), p. 114.
* Ubbelohde notes that the "steady state" theory of the origin of the
universe (see chapter 1, Origin of the Universe) is in direct violation of the
Second Law.
"A recent suggestion is that for the Universe considered as a whole the law of
entropy increase is brought to a standstill by the 'continuous creation' of matter. The
hypothesis of 'continuous creation' has in fact been introduced in the attempt to
neutralize the law of entropy trend on the cosmic scale." *A. R.
Ubbelohde,
Man and Energy, p. 177.
The concept of evolution stands in total opposition to the Second Law of
Thermodynamics:
"Evolutionism is the doctrine that the universe, inducting inorganic and organic
matter m ale m manifestations, is the product of gradual and progressive
development." *E. Olson, and *J. Robinson, Concepts of Evolution (1975), p.
10.
*Wilson explains that evolution is "the strongest natural explanation" (even
though it disagrees with natural law), and is but an expression of the laws of nature.
"Evolution, which is the strongest natural explanation, holdsthat the
gross features of the universeincluding galaxies, solar systems and planets; the
transition from the non-living matter to the living organisms; and the diversity of life
forms, including human beingsis expressed [required] by the. laws of nature."
*D.
Wilson, "The Origin of Life," Did the Devil Make Darwin Do it? (1983), p. 88.
Evolution is claimed to be able to operate in total opposition, to the Second Law and
increasing entropy.
"'The evolution of life is an anti-entropic process, running counter to the
second law of thermodynamics with its degradation of energy and its tendency to
uniformity:" *Julian Huxley, Introduction, Teilhard de Chardin, Phenomenon
of Man, (1959), p. 27.
4 -
THE SECOND LAW
AND OPEN SYSTEMS
Evolutionists are waging war on two fronts in regard to the Second Law. On one
hand, they freely declare that evolutionary theory is above natural law,and the
Second Law in particular. On the other hand, they say that, yes, the Second Law may apply
to some other parts of the universe, but it surely does not apply to plants end animals in
our world, since they are "open systems." A third defense is that the Second Law
applies to nothing in our world, because the sun shines upon it, making it an "open
system." Oddly enough, the Second Law was discovered in our world! Of course, if
that was true, then nothing in the universe would be under the Second Law, because light
from the stars penetrates every comer of it. We have already discussed this at length in
the text of this chapter, but here are a few additional statements by
scientists:
It matters not whether a system is closed (isolated) or open (non-isolated), entropy is
still increasing, and therefore the Second Law is still in charge.
"The quality of entropy generated locally cannot be negative irrespective of
whether the system is isolated or not." *Arnold Sommerfeld, Thermodynamics
and Statistical Mechanics (1958), p. 155.
Plants and animals continually use energy, and are continually dying.
"Like any other machine, the living system must have a supply of energy for
its operation. If it does external work as, for example, in bodily movement or in the
expulsion of waste products, free energy must be expended." *Harold F. Blum,
Time's Arrow and Evolution (1951), p. 87.
All systems go from order to disorder.
"There is a general natural tendency of all observed systems to go from order
to disorder, reflecting dissipation of energy available for future transformationthe
law of increasing entropy." *R. B. Kindsay: "PhysicsTo What
Extent is it Deterministic," in American Scientist, Vol. 158 (1973), P. 100.
Macroevolution (the evolving of one species into another) cannot occur because of the
Second Law controls all closed systems (and everything in our world is in a closed
system).
Where are these mysterious "closed systems" that are impervious to the Second
Law?
*McGowan [an avowed evolutionist] goes on to ridicule the creationist position in
respect to the second law of thermodynamics. He comments that this law only applies to
'closed' systems and implies that energy alone is sufficient to ensure vertical evolution.
However to achieve upward complexity he needs not only energy, but a high level of input
of genetic information and organization. Anyway, where in the world can we find
these mysterious 'closed' systems? As far as science can tell, everything on this Earth
interacts with everything else. Properly closed systems appear not to occur in nature,
whether in geology, chemistry or biology." A. W. Mehlert, Review,"
Creation Research Society Quarterly, June 1987, pp. 24-25.
"Macroevolution is unlikely because of the well-known second law of
thermodynamics, which holds that disorder (more formally known as entropy) increased in
closed systems." W. Frair and P. Davis, Case For Creation (1987), p. 94.
*Lindsay explains that the very fact that plants and animals grow old and die proves
that the Second Law applies to them.
"As was pointed out earlier in the book, the principal reason for accepting
the second law of thermodynamics is that it has always worked wherever it has been
possible to make the necessary measurements to test it. We assume therefore that it holds
where we are unable to make such measurements.
"All experience points to the fact that every living organism eventually dies.
This process in which the highly developed order of the organism is reduced to a random
and disorderly collection of molecules. We are reminded that we are 'dust' and to 'dust'
we ultimately return" *R.B. Lindsay, "Entropy Consumption and Values in
Physical Science," American Scientist, September 1959, p. 384.
Entropy continually bears sway over every system large or small, except in those
instances in which an outside influence is continually at work to keep repairing a
particular system (such as maintenance men always repairing an apartment house).
"The most careful examination of all naturally occurring processes (i.e.,
those in which external influences are not allowed to intervene) has only served to
confirm our confidence in the inexorable over-all increase in the entropy of the
universe." *R. B. Lindsay, "Entropy Consumption and Values in Physical
Science, " American Scientist, Vol. 47, September 1959, p. 379.
Kofahl and Segraves applies the Second Law to the chance formation of life:
"This Second Law of Thermodynamics is of great import also for any theory of
spontaneous origin of life. Such a theory proposes that chance arrangements of physical
conditions and mixtures of simple inorganic chemicalsmaintained for billions of
yearsmade possible, probable, even inevitable the formation of some complicated,
energy-rich proteins and other biomolecules from which the original living cells then were
formed by random combinations.
"However, this chemical evolution would require the spontaneous production of
organic compounds extremely rich in free energy and low in entropy, and the spontaneous
assembling of fantastically complex structures of living organisms. It is most difficult
to imagine how this [chemical evolution] could occur spontaneously without violating the
Second Law, to say nothing of actually demonstrating such a process experimentally. It is,
of course, pure imagination. Since the Second law has not yet been faulted a invalidated,
theories of spontaneous chemical origin of life call for extreme skepticism on the part of
honest scientists." R. E. Kofahl and K. L. Segraves, The Creation
Explanation (1975), pp. 3538.
McCann explains that the "open" vs. "closed" system argument is
ridiculousbecause everything is the same. While other scientists call everything
in the universe a closed system, McCann says it is all open. Actually, it matters not
whether everything is called closed or open; for the fact remains that everything is
the same! And if space and matter is in the same type of system, then everything is under
the Second Law. Whether systems be called open or closed, there surely is enough evidence
that our world is under it. The rocks crumble, buildings fall to pieces, plants and
animals age. You will want to read the following statement very carefully; it is very
explanatory:
"Anyone who has ever had a discussion with a Darwinist will almost surely have
been confronted with the question of open systems and closed systems, or isolated systems
and nonisolated systems [as they are also called]. Darwinists brandish this bit of lore in
particular when the question of the Law of Entropy comes up. They say that the Law of
Entropy does not apply to open systems, and because living systems are open systems they
tell us it does not apply to living systems. This turns out to be an effective
diversionary, obfuscatory tactic, because all too often people do not understand exactly
what is meant by an open or closed system, and thus the discussion is effectively
derailed.
"An open system is one which can interchange energy with other
systems. The earth and everything on it, including every form of life, all constitute open
systems because they obtain heat from the sun and radiations from outer space, and can
radiate heat to other systems. In contrast, a dosed system does not carry on exchanges
with its surroundings, that is, it does not interact with any other system.
"We can dispose of this matter of open and closed systems and how it affects our
concerns rather quickly. The only natural system which is a closed system is the universe
itself. This is because there is no other system from which the universe can obtain
energy. On the other hand, everything within the universe, including the earth and
everything connected with the earth, including living systems, are open systems. To
illustrate, we know that the earth and what it encompasses receives heat energy from the
sun of 13 x 10= calories per year.
Actually, the Law of Entropy operates in regard to all systems anywhere. It applies to
open systems as well as closed systems. That is why physicists maintain that even the
universe itself is slowly running down in terms of treadle energy, and so is the sun.
Thus, for Darwinists to claim that living systems are excluded from the workings of the
Law of Entropy because living systems are open systems does not make sense."
Lester J. McCann, Blowing the Whistle on Darwinism (1988), pp. 77-78.
Struggling to explain why evolution could occur in our world, in spite of the Second
Law, some evolutionism have come up with the science-fiction yarn that a mysterious space
warp of too much entropy occurred somewhere else in the universe,and the other side
of the warp hit our planet and emptied us of it, thus enabling evolution to occur! But
entropy is not a physical solid, like a pile of beans; it is an effect of the outworking
of a special law. If those effects are not found on our planet, then why do we see them
everywhere, and how could our scientists discover the Second Law and its effects right
here?
"Evolutionists . . [say that] the Earth, in particular, is an open system;
and that in an open system strange things may happen to the entropy, and to everything
else. . Some [evolutionists) say that there was a great increase in entropy in the Sun, or
in outer space, or somewhere; so that a spontaneous decrease in entropy on the Earth
[therefore occurred] and is not surprising. The idea seems to be that an increase in
entropy in one place can atone, so to speak, for a decrease in another. It is rather as if
one were to expect a small pot of water, put onto the fire, to freeze, provided a larger
pot put beside it boil . . But, surely an increase in entropy in one place has to do with
an (alleged) decrease in another only if there is some connection of cause and effect
between them. And, needless to say, such a connection has not been
demonstrated." H. L Armstrong, "Evolutionistic Defense Against
Thermodynamics Disproved," . in Creation Research Society Quarterly, March 1980, p.
227.
Humphreys shows that, as an open system, the solar energy pouring upon our world has
the effect of increasing entropy, not decreasing it.
"Although textbooks often state the second law in terms of a closed system, it is
possible to formulate the law in terms of an open system . .
"The only way to decrease entropy in any system is to have a flow of entropy out
of the system which is greater than the sum of the entropy coming into it and the
internally-produced entropy. Such an entropy outflow is equivalent of putting information
and order into the system from outside it. But as long as entropy inflows and outflows are
accounted for, the second law holds. So the second law does apply to open systems. .
"Let us consider the earth and its atmosphere as an open system which is receiving
energy from the sun. Since energy is flowing into the system, . . there is a positive
entropy flow also going into the system. If we use the known energy flux from the sun, we
can estimate the rate of entropy increase on the earth due to incoming solar energy alone.
The result fume out to be about 140 trillion calories per degree Kelvin per second. This
is a large flow of entropybut it is in the wrong direction to produce evolution.
Evolutionists want the sun's energy to produce greater and greater order upon the earth;
this requires that entropy be decreasing in our open system. But solar energy does just
the opposite; it increases the earth's entropy! . .
"There is no evidence that temporal local violations of the law exist. A
well-known physicist wrote, concerning exceptions to the second law:
" 'In fact, no violation can be brought about in this case, nor with any of the
ingenious and often subtle engines which have been devised with the object of
circumventing the law. More over, if consequences of the law are so unfailingly verified
by experiment that it has come to be regarded as among the most firmly established of all
the laws of nature.' [A.B. Pippard, Elements of Classical Thermodynamics (1957), p. 30.]
" D. Russel Humpreys, "Using the Second Law More Effectively," in
Creation Research Society Quarterly, March 1978, pp. 209-210. [Humphreys' article includes
mathematical calculations and diagrams in support of the above statements.)
McCann applies the Second Law to genes, and shows that information storage and transfer
is involved, and that mutational sources produce gradual, ongoing entropy effects on them.
"In order to construct a single, average protein, a gene would in turn consist
of between 300 and 1500 of its own chemical sub units, called nucleotides.
"How many genes are there? The small Drosophila [fruit] fly, which has been
studied more than any other creature in terms of its genetics, has been estimated by
experts to have between 8 and 10 thousand genes in its makeup. This is far fewer than the
number estimated for the human, of about 40 to 50 thousand genes. Some say this figure
should be as high as 100 thousand.
"It is necessary to realize that a gene is an information source, analogous to a
pattern. The gene provides the cell with a template for making a particular protein. It
might be, for example, the protein necessary for muscle construction. Thus, in the action
of genes we are dealing with the transfer of information.
"With the growth of the computer industry the field of information theory has
become more and more knowledgeable about the limitations of information transfer. One of
the basic tenets which has developed is that you cannot produce a sensible mode of
information transfer by chance. It the factor of chance is introduced into the preparation
of an information instrumentality it can only result in chaos, that is, it produces only
unintelligibility.
"It is possible to get an idea of the kind of complexity we are dealing with in
the case of a gene, and what we are expecting if we think a radiation or mutagen can
beneficially influence the genetic makeup of an organism. To do this, let us look at what
pertains for an animal of about the complexity of a fruit fly, an animal far less complex
than the human . .
"For our hypothetical creature, this would give us a figure of 900 critically
important nucleotide subunits for each gene, with about 9,000 genes making up the total
genetic complement of our theoretical organism. Multiplying 900 by 9,000 it means there
would be about 8,100,000 vulnerable chemical subunits or nucleotides serving as potential
targets for incoming radiations or penetrating chemical mutagens . .
"Any contact by a radiation or chemical mutagen on the wrong part of any of the
eight million nucleotides is likely to cause a lethal or grassy disruptive effect, [thus]
it is easy to see why the Law of Entropy works the way it does. That is why as
demonstrated in this instance, the Law insists that you cannot produce an increase in
complexity from the action of random radiation or indiscriminate mutagens. You get only a
disruption of the existing order." Lester McCann, blowing the Whistle on
Darwinism (1988), pp. 52 5a
5 -
THE SECOND LAW
AND CRYSTALIZATION
In desperation, evolutionists have pointed at crystal formation as proof that this
world is not under the control of the Second Law. They maintain that crystallization
proves evolutionary theory.
When various chemicals are placed in solution, and the fluid is then permitted to
evaporate, crystals will form. They do this automatically, and produce very predictable
shapes. In doing this, the chemicals are obeying a law. But in obeying crystallization
laws, they are not disobeying the Second Law! Wear and tear gradually wears down the
completed crystals, and they crumble back into dust. What do the scientists have to say
about this?
Three evolutionist writers accept the erroneous theory, as applying to crystals, but,
in the second paragraph, they reject it as applying to living creatureswhere
defiance of the Second Law is urgently needed by evolutionary theory.
"The point is that in a non-isolated system there exists a possibility for the
formation of ordered, low-entropy structures at sufficiently low temperatures. This
ordering principle is responsible for the appearance of ordered structures such as
crystals as well as for the phenomena of phase transitions.
"Unfortunately this principle cannot explain the formation of biological
structures." *I. Prigogine, *G. Nicolis and *A. Babloyantz,
"Thermodynamics of Evolution," Physics Today" Nov. 1972, p. 23.
*Stravropoulos replies to an ardent evolutionist who, in an article, wrote that because
crystals automatically form, therefore living creatures automatically form also.
"He makes it appear as though crystals and highly ordered organic molecules belong
to the same class, when in fact they do not. When a crystal is broken up, the smaller
crystals are physically and chemically identical to the original. This is never observed
with (organic) molecules; when the original molecule is split up lesser molecules appear,
and part of the original information is lost. To ignore such fundamental differences in an
effort to arrive at some general overview a law is to create a false overview, a
pseudo-law." *G. Stravropoulos, "Letter, " American Scientist
(197n, p. 874.
*More explains that crystallization is an entropy process leading to a lower state, and
that it involves inert, non-functioning materials. Therefore the crystallization process
is not an exemplar for what occurs in living tissue.
"Crystallization occurs because it leads W the lowest enemy state and to the most
stable arrangement of atoms or molecules under the given conditions. Crystallization leads
to simple, very uniform repeating structures, which are inert. These structures do not
function, and are not designed by function." *P. More, "Crystallization
and the Second Law," Nature 199 (1983), p. 218.
In order for a certain crystal to form, exactly the right chemical must be in liquid
form, and the fluid must then gradually evaporate. Armstrong explains that an ordered
(low-entropy) environment is needed to begin the crystallizationwhich would be in
agreement with the Second Law, which always begins with lower entropy.
"It is sometimes claimed that when a crystal forms from a solution, there is a
spontaneous increase in order. In thermodynamic terms, the increase in order is associated
with a decease in entropy . .
"It must be pointed out that crystallization, as it commonly happens, involves
irreversible processes. Now in thermodynamic calculations, it is risky, if not completely
invalid, to calculate on the basis of irreversible processes. The best thing is to
consider reversible processes which will give the same result, and to calculate from them
. .
"To have the crystals form, showing some order, it is necessary that the situation
incorporate beforehand a considerable amount of order. So it is not true that order will
arise spontaneously out of disorder. In particular, out of the utter disorder envisaged by
those who maintain that the universe began with an explosion, the present degree of order
could never have arisen spontaneously." H.L. Armstrong, "Evolutionistic
Defense Against Thermodynamics Disproved. 1. in Creation Research Society Quarterly, March
1980, pp. 228-227.
But two leading scientists explain that this ordered environment for crystal formation
can in no way explain biological evolution.
"In a non-isolated system there exists a possibility for formation of ordered,
low-entropy structures at sufficiently low temperatures. This ordering principle is
responsible for the appearance of ordered structures as crystals as well as for the
phenomena of phase transitions.
"Unfortunately this principle cannot explain the formation of biological
structures." *L.G. Nicolis, Prigogine, and *A. Babloyantz,
"Thermodynamics of Evolution," Physics Today, 25(11):23-28 (1972).
6 -
THE SECOND LAW DESTROYS
EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
Evolutionists find in the Second Law one of the biggest obstacles to convert
the world to their viewpoint. They have decided that the only way out !s to denounce that
law as an insignificant detail that is overruled by the great principle of Evolution. But
knowledgably scientists in the field declare that the Second Law totally eliminates the
possibility of the origin or evolution of life, as explained by evolutionary theory.
*Lindsay draws the battle lines for us:
"Evolution, in the broad sense, implies increasing organization and complexity
in the universe and is in effect a doctrine of continuous creation; conversely, the first
law of thermodynamics affirms that creation is no longer normally occurring, and the
second that the original creation is decreasing in organization and complexity.
"Thermodynamics is a physical theory of great generality impinging on practically
every phase of human experience. It may be called the description of the behaviour of
matter in equilibrium and of its changes from one equilibrium state to another.
Thermodynamics operate with two master concepts or constructs and two great principles.
The concepts are energy and entropy, and the principles are the so-called first and second
laws of thermodynamics." *R.B. Lindsay, "Entropy Consumption and Values
in Physical Science," American Scientist, September 1959, p. 378.
Evolution requires continual, inherent improvement within both matter and biological
substances. The Second Law says No.
"One problem biologists have faced is the apparent contradiction by evolution
of the second law of thermodynamics. Systems should decay through time, giving less, not
more order." *Roger Lewin, "A Downward Slope to Greater
Diversity," in Science, September 24, 1982, p. 1239.
"How can the forces of biological development [evolutionary theory] and the
forces of physical degeneration [the Second Law] succeed by operating at cross purposes?
It would take, of course, a far greater mind than mine even to attempt to penetrate this
riddle. I can only pose the question." *Sydney Harris, "Second Law of
Thermodynamics," in San Francisco Examiner, January 27, 1984 in a nationally
syndicated column].
Chapter 10 (DNA and Protein) explained why, mathematically, it would be
impossible for the necessary coding to be produced by chance selection. Coffin tells us
that the Second Law would forbid the needed chemicals from concentrating sufficiently to
produce amino acids, and thence, proteins. Entropy would also break down anything produced
before it could go on and make further biologic improvements.
"They [the evolutionists] know that evolution has no satisfactory explanation of
origins, that the pushing of this problem out into specs or onto other heavenly bodies
does not solve it. They are acquainted with the second law of thermodynamics, which would
work against the build-up of amino acids and proteins needed before that original final
spark of life could develop on earth." H. G. Coffin, CreationAccident
or Design? (1989), p. 459.
*Oparin and *Hull agree:
"Any transition from one stage of biopoiesis to the next usually entails the
growth of a complex and organized system. After the second law of thermodynamics a reverse
decomposition process much more probable than the direct synthetic one." *A.
I. Oparin: "Problem of the Origin of Life: Present Spate and Prospects," in
Chemical Evolution and the Origin of Life (1971), p. 6.
"The conclusion from these arguments presents the most serious obstacle, if
indeed it is not fatal, to the theory of spontaneous generation. Fret, thermodynamic
calculations predict vanishingly small concentrations of even the simplest organic
compounds. Secondly, the reactions that are invoked to synthesize such compounds are seen
to be much more effective in decomposing them.
"The physical chemist, guided by the proved principles of chemical thermodynamics
aril kinetics, cannot offer any encouragement to the biochemist who needs an ocean full of
organic compounds to form even lifeless coacervate." *D. Hull,
"Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Spontaneous Generation," in Nature, Vol. 188
(1960), pp. 693-694.
A continual controversy wages in the academic halls of the evolutionists over ways to
side-step the Second Law, and thus salvage their theory. But *Grew declares it has not be
circumvented.
"But an answer can readily be given to the question 'Has the second law of
thermodynamics been circumvented?' Not yet." *Frank A. Grow, "On the
Second Law of Thermodynamics," in American Laboratory, October 1982, p. 88.
Evolution requires a reversal of entropy, but the odds are against it.
"Henry Bent, a chemist, calculated on the basis of the second law that the
chance for a reversal of entropy, such that one calorie could be converted completely into
work, is comparable to the odds for a group of monkeys randomly punching at the
typewriters to 'produce Shakespeare's works 15 quadrillion time in succession without
error." *S.W. Angrist, "Perpetual Motion Machines," in Scientific
American, (1988), pp. 218, 120-121.
There are many chemicals in our bodies which would instantly inactivate or destroy one
another if brought together, yet there they are, on the cliff-edge of collapse, yet not
doing so during the life of the organism. The effects of the Second Law would forbid that
such inimitable chemicals could ever come together by chance and form living systems.
" 'All molecules result from an electrochemical tendency to neutralization.
They are therefore expressions of tendencies toward stability.' Unhappily for
materialists, however, life is characteristically unstable, and 'it is incredible that the
complex of substances, all tending towards a state of stability, would produce the
permanent chemical instability which is characteristic of animate matter.' Thus it is
inconceivable that an organic compound should ever be formed in the absence of life:' No
condition of inorganic matter is even thinkable in which carbon, oxygen and hydrogen could
combine to form a sugar rather than water and carbon dioxide." *Discovery,
May 1962, p. 44. (A review of R. Schubert-Soldem's book, Mechanism and
Vitalism.)
Knowing that evolutionists try to use crystal formation as an example of Second Law
violation, three scientists declare that even if that were so, it would not explain how
living systems could be exempt from that law.
"The point is that in a non-isolated system there exists a possibility for
formation d ordered, low-entropy structures at sufficiently low temperatures. This
ordering principle is responsible for the appearance of ordered structures such as crystal
as well as for the phenomena of phase transitions
"Unfortunately this principle cannot explain the formation of biological
structures. The probability that at ordinary temperatures a macroscopic number d molecules
is assembled to give rise to the highly-ordered structures and to the coordinated
functions characterizing living organisms is vanishingly small. The idea of spontaneous
genesis of life in its present form is therefore highly improbable, even on the scale of
the billions of years during which prebiotic evolution occurred." *llya
Prigogine, *Gregoire Nicolis and *Agnes Babloyants, "Thermodynamics of Evolution,
" Physics Today, Vol. 25, November 1972, p. 23.
*Prigogine is professor on the Faculty of Sciences at the University Libra de Belgique
and is one of the world's leading thermodynamicists. He sees the complexity of living
organisms as too extensive to be exempt:
"But let us have no illusionsour research would still leave us quite
unable to grasp the extreme complexity of the simplest of organisms." *llya
Prigogine, "Can Thermodynamics Explain Biological Order?" p. 178.
Holboyd approaches the matter from the standpoint of mutations. He tells us that the
Second Law theoretically forbids the possibility that chance mutations could ever produce
beneficial results in living organisms. The theory is matched by the evidence: That is
exactly what occurs only negative effects are produced by mutational activity.
"The second law of thermodynamics has been fairly established in physics and
chemistry. According to this law, physical and chemical systems spontaneously go from less
probable to more probable states. Buildings, roads, bridges, dams, and machines are all destroyed by acts of nature, consistently with this law. As
a result, it is not possible for a physical scientist to accept without convincing
evidence the idea that natural events, considered blind and mindless, ever make beneficial
mutations. Only the detrimental effects of mutations are consistent with the second law.
This matter is complex and it needs more thought than it has ever been given."
Howard
B. Holhoyd, "Darwinism is Physical and Mathematical Nonsense," in Creation
Research Society Quarterly, June 1972, p. 12.
7 -
THE SECOND LAW
REQUIRES A BEGINNING
It is of interest that not only does the Second Law require an end; it also requires a
beginning! A ticking pocket watch had to be originally designed and made by an intelligent
mind. That watch also had to be initially wound up. The manifold purposive designs in
nature require that original manufacture by an outside intelligence. The Second Law
requires that all animate and inanimate nature be originally wound up.
*Stansfield defines the problem:
"Creationists continually refer to the laws of thermodynamics in their
arguments against a natural origin for living systems.
"The First Law of Thermodynamics, sometimes called the Law of Conservation
of Energy, states that energy can be transformed form one kind to another, but it can
neither be created nor destroyed. Since matter and energy have been interconvertible, the
First Law can be modified to state that neither matter nor energy can be created or
destroyed.
"The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that in converting one form of
energy to another, some of it is lost as unusable heat. Entropy is the thermodynamic
quality of randomness or disorder within a system. The Second Law therefore implies that
as energy is being transformed throughout the universe, entropy is increasing. These Laws
argue strongly for a created universe!" *W. Stansfield, The Science of
Evolution (1977), p. 57.
Pitman explains that the cosmos could not possibly be infinitely old, as many
evolutionists require. It had to have a production and wind-up beginning. If so, an
outside super-powerful Intelligence had to produce it.
"The Second Law of Thermodynamics (the law of energy decay) states that, with
time, all systems tend, unless there is an external input of energy, to run down. For
example, the paraffin wax in a candle is composed of hydrocarbon molecules, which, by
virtue of their structure, possess much chemical energy. When M, the candle will burn and
I energy will be converted into light and heat energy. The candle burns spontaneously. but
it will never 'unburn' itself. All spontaneous processes tend to change order into
disorder and organized energy into random heat energy. The entropy of a system is a
measure of its degree of disorder, and we expect to find a general increase in entropy.
"Jeremy Rifkin, an evolutionists, has written: 'The entropy law will preside as
the ruling paradigm over the next period of history. Albert Einstein said that it is the
premiere law of all science, Sir Arthur Eddington referred to it as the supreme
metaphysical law of the entire universe.
"What meaning has this law for the question of origins Firstly, if the cosmos were
infinitely old we would expect to find it had completely run down. Unwound, it would have
suffered a 'heat-death.' That it has not implies that it is not infinitely old and
therefore must have had a beginning. If the first law precludes the cosmos from having
started itself, we are led to the conclusion that an outside, non-material power generated
it.
"The second law, implying that the universe had a beginning, precludes the
possibility of infinite, eternal matter . .
"Statistical thermodynamics shows that the organized complexity (order) of a
structured system tends to become disordered. A correlation of this is that the
information conveyed by a communicating system tends to become distorted and
incomplete." M. Pitman, Adam and Evolution, (1984), pp. 1131.
"At some time in the past, [it must] have been wound up in some manner unknown to
us."
"The universe is like a clock which is running down, a clock which, so far as
science knows, no one ever winds up, which cannot wind itself up, and so must stop in
time. It is at present a partially wound-up clock which must, at some time in the past,
have been wound up in some manner unknown to us.
"Everything points with overwhelming force to a definite went, a series of events,
of creation at sometime a times not infinitely remote. The universe can not have
originated by chance out of its presets ingredients, and neither can it have been always
the same as now." *Sir James Jeans, Eos, or the Wider Aspects of Cosmogony
(1928), p. 52.
*Davies says it in bolder terminology:
"The Universe cannon have existed forever-there must have been a
creation." *P. Davies The Runaway Universe (1980), p. 27.
"A universe that is running down demands a Creator who 'wound it up' at the
beginning."
"Contrary to popular belief, not a single star, planet, or galaxy has ever
been seen forming spontaneously out of cosmic debris. Such imaginary evolutionary
processes do not even work on paper! Why, then, are we continually told that we live in
evolving universe rather than a degenerating universe? Because of the implications of such
an admission. A universe that is running down demands a Creator who 'wound it up' at the
beginning. And astronomers today have a morbid fear of the stigma of creationism." H.
R Siegler, Evolution or Degeneration: Which (1972), P. 52
The Second Law increases conviction that there is a Creator.
"A final point to be made is that the second law of thermodynamics and the
principle of increase in entropy have great philosophical implications. The question that
arises is how did the universe get into the state of reduced entropy in the first place,
since all natural processes known to us tend to increase entropy? . . The author has round
that the second law tends to increase his conviction that there is a Creator who has the
answer for the future destiny of man and the universe." *Gordon J. Van
Wylen, Thermodynamics (1959), p. 189.
Brown explains that there had to be a beginning, or at some time in the past there
would have been too much energy in the universe.
"If the entire universe is an isolated system, then, according to the Second
Law of Thermodynamics, the energy in the universe that is available for useful work has
always been decreasing. However, as one goes back in time, the amount of energy available
for useful work would eventually exceed the total energy in the universe that, according
to the First Law of Thermodynamics, remains constant. This is an impossible condition.
Therefore, it implies that the universe had a beginning." Walter T. Brown,
in the Beginning (1989), p. 12
8 -
THE LAWS AND THEIR MAKER
Whence came these astounding laws that govern the smallest atom to the greatest world?
Laws cannot make themselves! Think about that awhile.
*Einstein stood in awe of the amazing perfection, utility, and harmony of natural laws:
"The scientist's religious feeling takes the roan of a rapturous amazement at the
harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared
with it, all the systematic thinking and acting o4 human beings is an utterly
insignificant reflection." *Albert Einstein, The World As I See It, p. 9.
Enoch agrees:
"For instance, the size of the universe as revealed by the 200 inch telescope
reaching out to a stance of tyro billion light years, with its billions of stars and their
planets, all moving in their own orbits with such clock-like precision, without any
confusion, speaks of an all-wise and Almighty Creator who non only created them, but also
keeps them going. Such marvelous accuracy and precision cannon come into being through
fortuitous chance operations, as evolutionists contend. None of the theories put forward
by the cosmologists, be it Laplace's 'Nebular Hypothesis' or Fred Hoyle's 'Steady State
Theory' or Garnow's 'Big Bang Theory' can adequately account for such marvels,."
H. Enoch, Evolution or Creation, (1966) pp. 109-110.
These amazing laws point us to a Creator who made them.
"If the earliest evolutionist was Anaximander, creationism has been in the
books since there were any. Another Greek philosopher, Anaxagoras [c. 500-428 B.C.],
believed a teleological principle which he called 'mind' brought order and harmonic molar
into original empty chaos. Two and a half thousand years later, Albert Einstein
(1879-195,5) fen much the same, using words that all but the most hard-bitten scientist
would respond to:
" 'The scientist's religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at
the harmony of natural law, which reveals an Intelligence of such superiority that,
compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly
insignificant reflection." Michael Pitman, Adam and Evolution (1984) p. 21
[Quotation: "Albert Einstein, The World as I See It" (1979 eo:), p. 21
It is of interest that, in the Bible, Romans 8:20-22 may, among other things, also
refer to the Second Law:
"Creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who
hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from
the bondage of corruption [decay] into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we
know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now."
Romans
8:20-22.
"A law presupposes an agent. . Without this agent . . the law does nothing."
"It is a perversion of language to assign any law, as the efficient,
operative, cause of anything. A law presupposes an agent; for it is only the mode,
according to which an agent proceeds; it implies a power; for it is the order, according
ro which that power acts. Without this agent, without this power, which are both distinct
from itself [from the law], the law does nothing; is nothing." William
Paley, Natural Theology, chapter I, item VII.
Morris describes this First Cause, the One who made the laws of nature and all that
those laws govern:
"[In evolution] matter itself becomes its own Cause, and the creationist may
well ask: 'But, then, who made Matter?' In either case, therefore: one must simply
believeeither in eternal.. omnipotent Matter or else in an eternal, omnipotent
Creator God. The individual may decide which he considers more reasonable, but he should
recognize this is not completely a scientific decision either way.
"In justification of his own decision, however, the creationist utilizes the
scientific law of cause-and-effect This law, which is universally accepted and
followed in every field of science, relates every phenomenon as an effect to a cause. No
effect is ever quantitatively 'greater' nor qualitatively 'superior' to its cause. An
effort can be lower than its cause but never higher.
"Using causal reasoning, the theistic creationist notes that:
"The First Cause of limitless Space must be infinite. The First Cause of endless
Time must be eternal. The First Cause of boundless Energy must be omnipotent. The First
Cause of universal Interrelationships must be omnipresent. The First Cause of infinite
Complexity must be omniscient. The First Cause of Moral Values must be moral. The First
Cause of Spiritual Values must be spiritual. The First Cause of Human Responsibility must
be volitional. The First Cause of Human Integrity must be truthful. The First Cause of
Human Love must be being. The First Cause of Life must be living.
"We conclude from the law of cause-and-effect that the First Cause of all things
must be an infinite, eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, moral, spiritual,
volitional, truthful, loving, living Being!
"Do such adjectives describe Matter? Can random motion of primeval particles
produce intelligent thought or inert molecules generate spiritual worship?"
Henry Morris, Scientific Creationism (1985). pp. 19-20.
Heraclitus has a word to speak to the evolutionists who today flee behind their
theories to avoid facing the truth that there is a God to whom they must someday answer:
"My friend Heraclitus, who had a . . suit. . first showed the judges that his
cause was just, and then at the finish cried. 'I will not entreat you: nor do I care what
sentence you pass. It is you who are on your trial, not I!'and so he ended the case.
"Epictetus, Golden Sayings of Epictetus (1935 edition).
You have just completed
APPENDIX 25
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CHAPTER 26-
PALEOMAGNETISM
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