Entropy: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Until the middle of the nineteenth century entropy and energy were confused with one another. The intellectual fog slowly cleared and now these words name subtle and powerful concepts. Most people think they know what energy is, but few could define entropy.

ThisVery Short Introductiontraces the emergence of entropy and energy as distinct concepts, and explains how entropy spread from thermodynamics into statistical mechanics, probability theory and data science. It explains the implications...