In 1850 German physicist and mathematician Rudolf Clausius published his most important paper, “On the moving force of heat,” which stated the basic ideas of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Clausius’ work was based on the findings of Nicolas Sadi Carnot, a physicist and a mechanical engineer in the French Army, who is considered the “father of Thermodynamics” with his proposal of the Carnot Cycle in 1824. In 1865, Clausius penned the revolutionary concept of entropy (he coined the word to be similar to energy) that everything in nature tends to flow from order to disorder, and requires focused energy to regain order. His simple summation: “The energy of the universe is constant. The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum.”
Today, Clausius’ Theory of Entropy continues to attract the minds of the best and brightest in varied fields. It is one of the few concepts that provide evidence for the existence of time. Astronomer Arthur Eddington proposed the “Arrow of Time”, an idea that time is asymmetrical and flows in only one direction: forward. It is a non-reversible process wherein entropy increases. In 1927 Eddington observed, “Let us draw an arrow arbitrarily. If as we follow the arrow[,] we find more and more of the random element in the state of the world, then the arrow is pointing towards the future; if the random element decreases[,] the arrow points towards the past. That is the only distinction known to physics.”
Or, as the renowned English theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking stated in his international bestseller, ‘A Brief History of Time’, “The increase of disorder or entropy is what distinguishes the past from the future, giving a direction to time.”
Entropy envelopes every aspect of our daily lives; economics, business and social systems, to mention a few dimensions. Austrian American business consultant Peter Drucker’s definition of the subject is, “Entropy is a measure of disorder, and it is based on probabilities and the possible combinations in a given system. It also states that to return a system to its original state, it takes more energy than that which was required for disorder to happen.” Here we are clearly in an advanced state of disorder, and plummeting fast in several areas. The dire straits of our electrical power supply (SN editorial, GPL, 1st April, 2024) and the continued uncertainty surrounding its immediate future, and the mounting piles of garbage around the city (SN Photo essay, Garbage piles all over the city, 14th April, 2024) instantly spring to mind.
How thorough was the planning and execution of current major projects? Have the subsequent spin-offs of the expansion and construction of the two major arteries – the East Coast and the East Bank thoroughfares – been properly analyzed? Have traffic flow and traffic density studies been conducted? Or are we just building roads for the sake of it? Scientific studies are not required to project the huge increase in the flow of traffic within the already tight confines of Georgetown during the work week from 7 am to 6 pm. It’s already gridlock within the first two hours with the crush of taking children to school and getting to work on time, and it will only get progressively worse.
The predictable increase in vehicular traffic within the city during working hours raises the issue of parking and the ghost of that former elephant in the room: parking meters. With no announcements for the development of large-scale parking lots or elevated parking decks by either the government or City Hall or the private sector, it’s only a matter of time before the current chaos of parking in the city is back on the table of burning issues. Currently, drivers (minibus drivers excluded) have to approach intersections with trepidation as vehicles are parked on all four corners, making it virtually impossible to see oncoming traffic, thus forcing one to creep into the intersection to determine if it is safe to advance. It seems that the authorities have ignored and side-stepped this problem and now double parking on the wider streets have become the accepted norm. The revolt against the unilateral introduction of parking meters by the City Council in 2017, which led to the withdrawal of the idea is still fresh in our minds. At the end of the day, some form of control of parking within the city will have to be imposed or complete chaos will become the order of the day.
Searching for an answer to or understanding our current state of entropy can be complex. However, in a synopsis, all roads point to a few key sources. Overall, there is a lack of solid leadership – across the board – and an undisciplined society in which the major institutions and support systems are in varying stages of disorder. Reversing this decline does not appear to be on the cards. As English chemist Peter Atkins surmised, “You can think of it [entropy] as nature’s tax.”