Physics - Molecular Theory of the Living Cell - page 15

thermodynamics (FLT) (see Step 1 in Fig. 2.2 ) (Atkins 2007). FLT states that the
energy and matter (or more briefly mattergy ) of the Universe are (or is) conserved.
Feasible processes can be divided into two classes - spontaneous and
nonspontaneous. Spontaneous processes increase, and nonspontaneous processes
decrease, the entropy of the Universe (see Step 2). Spontaneous processes can be
divided into organize d processes exhibiting some patterns and regularities and
random processes showing no recognizable patterns, depending on whether or not
physical information (I P ) (e.g., the universal constants) affect or constrain the
processes under consideration (see Step 3). Organized processes divide themselves
into self-organized (e.g., Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction) and other-organized pro-
cesses (e.g., Bernard convection cells) (Sect. 3.1 ) , depending on whether the orga-
nization is driven by chemical reactions (encoding chemical information, I C )
occurring inside or outside the thermodynamic system under consideration (see
Step 4). Finally, self-organizing processes can be divided into biotic (i.e., living)
and abiotic (i.e., nonliving) processes, depending on whether or not the processes
under consideration are parts of (or associated with) self-reproducing systems
controlled by biological information, I B (see Step 5). The first two laws of thermo-
dynamics are related to free energy (or energy more conveniently), while the last
three “suggested” laws concern information defined at the three distinct levels of
physics, chemistry , and biology , designated as I P ,I C , and I B , respectively. This seems
consistent with the information-energy complementarity principle formulated in the
early 1990s (Ji 2002b, 2004b). The contents of the suggested laws may be stated as
follows:
4th Law: Not all spontaneous processes are random.
5th Law: Not all organized processes are driven by external forces.
6th Law: It is impossible to self-reproduce without biological information .
If the bifurcation scheme shown in Fig. 2.2 is correct, it may be concluded that
thermodynamics has two complementary aspects - the energetic and the informatic .
Classical thermodynamics mainly deals with the energetic aspect of thermodynam-
ics while the informatic aspect of thermodynamics has been almost totally ignored,
except in statistical mechanics where Boltzmann introduced the concept of infor-
mation in the form of the number of microstates, W (called “complexion”), in his
equation for entropy (see Eq. 2.11 ). Just as classical mechanics encountered a
conceptual crisis about a century ago when it encountered the phenomenon of
blackbody radiation which was not resolved until the quantum of action was
invoked and quantum mechanics was formulated (see Rows 4, 5, and 6 of the
second column in Table 2.2 ), so it may be that classical thermodynamics is facing a
conceptual crisis with the discovery of the phenomena of self-reproduction, mor-
phogenesis (also called ontogenesis) and biological evolution (also called
phylogenesis) which may not be resolved until novel concepts such as gnergons
are introduced and a new field of inquiry such as gnergetics is established
(see Rows 4 and 5 of the third column in Table 2.2 ).