butterflies dance
beside a cold creek,
near sun-warmed leaves.
Cold Creek [Haiku]
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Tag Archives: Temperature
BOOK REVIEW: The Laws of Thermodynamics: A Very Short Introduction by Peter Atkins
The Laws of Thermodynamics: A Very Short Introduction by Peter AtkinsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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This book succeeds in systematically exploring the topic, but it fails to do so in a readable fashion for a non-expert reader who’s looking for a rudimentary grasp of the basics. It’s true that the topic is complex and challenging (as the author argues up front,) but I don’t believe the book’s daunting nature all lands on the subject matter. I’ve read up on other difficult topics using this series (VSI,) and found some books much more approachable.
The main problem was a lack of clarity (versus precision) in the language. In other words, the author didn’t want to oversimplify or use analogies, even though those are what’s needed for a neophyte reader to build an intuitively grasp a subject. For example, while the chapters are nicely organized by the laws of thermodynamic and presented in their usual order, there’s no quick and dirty definition of the respective law given at the beginning of each chapter. A simplified definition (incomplete and imperfect as it might be) would allow the reader to gain a basic intuition of the concept. Then, the reader can tweak and expand the concept as they go. But that’s not the approach taken here. Instead, several paragraphs are taken to get around to a statement of the law in question. There was also a lack of analogies and other tools to help the reader gain a foothold based upon what they know. I suspect these tools were avoided because they are all incorrect at some level of precision, and it was the scholarly fear of imprecision that resulted in their teaching effectiveness being abandoned.
This is a great guide for people who think mathematically and / or who are looking for a quick refresher of ideas they once knew. For those who don’t have a background in science and who need verbal explanations that make an effort to be comprehensible, it’s probably not the best one can do.
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Thermoclines in the Park [Free Verse]
Running through the park, in the light of the rising sun, I pass through a band of cool air, and a little later, pass through a band of warm, humid air. And, I wonder whether I'm having a stroke. Isn't physics supposed to push the warm air over into the cold, or pull the cold air over into the warm, or both, and to keep doing so until the air temperature is an undifferentiated mass? Had I stumbled into a glitch in the Matrix? Was the simulated weather breaking down? Why was thermodynamics misbehaving? I had so many questions, but so few answers. And so many miles to go.
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98.6 [Free Verse]
The secret is... we're energy machines. This wild ride we're on is all about staying 98.6. The meaning of life might as well be 98.6. You work to make rent to be sheltered at 98.6. You go to the store for groceries to stoke the fires of 98.6. You put on your coat or slippers to keep yourself at 98.6. You go to the beach to warm to 98.6 & then sweat to drop back to 98.6. You take medicines when you're too far off the mark of 98.6. You turn on the AC to sleep at 98.6 & kick off the covers & drag the covers back & adjust the AC... all to sleep at 98.6. You may wish to be a flash fire of a million degrees, but life leaves you at 98.6. Some day you'll cool off and your career as Thermoregulatory Maintenance Specialist will be at an end & you'll be done with the trouble of staying 98.6.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 