The Second Law of Thermodynamics in Humans: For Heat's Sake!
On the urgings of a few commenters here on the blog, and even more recently , by Don't-Call-Him-John (Kiefer), I've found myself reading Biological Thermodynamics by Donald Haynie (2nd edition). [It's #1 on this Amazon Search page, just for context that there are others out there.] After reading large chunks of the book -- had a lot of time on my hands without internet access these past couple of weeks -- it has become even more clear as to where some of the biggest misconceptions about thermodynamics in this community come from. It is not that Haynie is incorrect, however. There are many statements in the book that read as "off", but on second or third pass through are technically accurate provided one is using his definitions in proper context*. It is more that his book is so filled with examples that lack relevance to biological contexts as to cloud the picture. What results is that although somewhere in the text all the relevant "prer...