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From: gjphw@iham1.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Re: Re: SOR pamphlet #2 - (nf)
Message-ID: <257@iham1.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 26-Nov-84 17:02:36 EST
Article-I.D.: iham1.257
Posted: Mon Nov 26 17:02:36 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 27-Nov-84 04:35:27 EST
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Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
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    This article is intended to criticize two issues mentioned in
 A.R. Miller's (uiucdcsb!miller) posting of SOR pamphlet #2.  While both
 issues have been debated in the past, it appears as if the discussions
 have not had any discernible effect on introductory pamphlets intended
 for public consumption (see especially SOR pamphlet #1).  The
 representation of chemistry as an exercise in combinatorics and the
 prerequisites for classical thermodynamics are in dispute.

    In the section labeled TIME PLUS CHANCE, arguments against a natural
 origin for life are advanced based upon the huge number of different
 combinations of elements that must be tried before a self-sustaining
 and self-reproducing system can be discovered.  While it is an
 interesting mental exercise, it is not correct to imply that all
 combinations of all elements are equally likely to occur.  The
 calculations provided in this section assume that any combination of
 nucleotides in a DNA chain are equally likely.  The operant concept
 that is suspect is *random*.

    Chemistry is not the study of random combinations of atoms but
 rather the elucidations of the rules that govern combinations of atoms;
 it is a study of order and patterns, not randomness.  Elements
 preferentially form certain compounds in specified environmental
 conditions.  It is premature to consider that all is known about the
 possible rules governing the formation of DNA from nucleotides and
 proteinoids.  While there is little doubt that a trial of all random
 combinations would require an immense amount of time, who has the
 available evidence to support the argument that all nucleotide
 combinations are equally likely, and therefore random?

    Within the section labeled THERMODYNAMICS, two errors are apparent.
 The first is the assertion that evolution begins with disorganized
 matter and ends with Homo sapiens.  As written by Darwin, evolution as
 a biological principle begins with the existence of living organisms
 and attempts to describe the present relationships among living
 organisms.  The admittedly large step of abiogenesis is not subsumed
 under traditional evolutionary theory.

    Second, the statement of the second law of thermodynamics (entropy)
 is not precise.  While it is expected that an isolated system will go
 toward equilibrium (i.e., uniform and constant temperature, pressure,
 etc.), no mention is made as to how long might be required to achieve
 this equilibrium state.  More precisely, classical thermodynamics is an
 idealization which applies to systems at equilibrium, with the
 definition of what constitutes a system left rather vague.  If the
 prerequisite for the application of entropy is a system at equilibrium,
 there would appear to be few places for this law to operate on the
 surface of the Earth.  Systems or clusters or aggregates not at
 equilibrium may still move toward greater disorder, but the basis is not
 then derived from a naive application of the second law of thermodynamics.

    Since the identification of the second law of thermodynamics with
 the order of a system involves the use of statistical physics (Newton's
 laws applied to a large collection of molecules), conditions which
 violate the prerequisites of thermodynamics can be explored using
 statistical physics.  The first condition for thermodynamics is a
 system at equilibrium.  To achieve equilibrium, all parts and molecules
 of the system must be able to continuously exchange energy and momentum
 with one another.  In other words, a system must be at least spatially
 contiguous.  A second condition for the application of thermodynamics
 is that all forces must be of short range.  Systems involving
 gravitation violate this prerequisite, though if the gravitation is
 uniform throughout the system, corrections can be applied.

    But remember, all of these predictions involving entropy are based
 upon Boltzmann's theory of gases which is, after all, only a theory!

-- 

                                    Patrick Wyant
                                    AT&T Bell Laboratories (Naperville, IL)
                                    *!iham1!gjphw