In existographies, Hyman Levy (1889-1975) was a Scottish mathematician and philosopher noted, in evolution thermodynamics, for his 1939 proposition that there must exist some type of second law of evolution in thermodynamic terms, or something along these lines.
Overview
In 1939, Levy, in his Modern Science, argued that there must exist some form of parallel thermodynamics law to explain “aggregated energy” forms. [1] His cited quotation on this matter is as follows: [2]
“The fact is that the second law of thermodynamics, which regards systems as passing from orderly arrangement to disorderly randomness, classifies any future pattern or more complex orderly arrangement that may arise subsequent to the original order, as one of the innumerable accidental situations that have no special significance for man; as if a complex computing machine were indeed a random combination of parts. It may indeed mean that the energy of the original material from which the metal was drawn is now less available in one sense, but as a computing machine, it has now made available a mass of energy that was not previously capable of being tapped. Side by side, therefore, with the second law of thermodynamics, in so far as it may be valid for large-scale systems—if it is so valid—there must exist a law for the evolution of novel forms of aggregated energy and the emergence of new qualities. A generalization of this nature has not yet been made, but that a general rule of this type must exist is evident.”
— Hyman Levy (1939), Modern Science; cited by Joseph Needham (1942) in “Evolution and Thermodynamics: a Paradox with Social Significance” (pg. 358) [1]
This grasping seems to be a forerunner to the ongoing search for fourth laws of thermodynamics.
He discusses Maxwell's demon, among other related subjects.
Education
Levy graduated completed his MA in mathematics and physics at the University of Edinburgh in 1911. He then did research at the University of Gottingen, University of Oxford, the National Physical Laboratory, and went on to become a in 1920 became a mathematics professor at Imperial College, London, becoming the head of the department of mathematics and mechanics there in 1946, after which he became the dean of the Royal College of Science of Imperial College.
Levy’s background mathematical focus was in the study of differential equations. Into the 1930s, Levy began to expounded a ‘materialistic philosophy’ in a number of books, the first being the 1932 The Universe of Science. [3]
References
1. (a) Levy, Hyman. (1939). Modern Science: a Study of Physical Science in the World Today (thermodynamics, 19+ pgs). London: Hamish Hamilton.
(b) Needham, Joseph. (1942). “Evolution and Thermodynamics: a Paradox with Social Significance” (pg. 358) (abs), Science and Society, 352-75.
2. Law, John and Mol, Annemarie. (2002). Complexities: Social Studies of Knowledge Practices (pg. 34). Duke University Press.
3. (a) Hyman Levy – MacTutor Biographies.
(b) Levy, Hyman. (1932). The Universe of Science. Ayer Publishing.
External links
● Hyman Levy – Wikipedia.
