Exactly 200 years ago, a French engineer introduced an idea that would quantify the universe’s inexorable slide into decay. But entropy, as it’s currently understood, is less a fact about the world ...

In order to build the computers and devices of tomorrow, we have to understand how they use energy today. That's harder than ...

Thermodynamic spontaneity—whether a reaction can go—can be measured by changes in either of two parameters: entropy or free energy. These concepts are abstract and can be somewhat difficult to ...