Life and the production of entropy

1987/11/23 by Robert E. Ulanowicz, Bruce Hannon · 1 voice · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Sustainability and Ecological Systems Analysis #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution

paper · doi:10.1098/rspb.1987.0067

openalex publication_date 1987/11/23 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Abstract It appears that living communities serve to augment the rate of entropy production over what it would be in the absence of biota. This hypothesis might be tested by comparing the spectra of electromagnetic fluxes incident to and emanating from the surface of the Earth. An added measure of the value of stored energy to ecosystems is derived by using the economic theory of discounting.

Citations

• Mass and energy flow in closed ecosystems
• Selforganization of matter and the evolution of biological macromolecules

Cited by

• Thermodynamic dissipation theory for the origin of life

Discussions

• Ulanowicz and Hannon have written a nice piece about this necessity, building on the research triggered over decades by the insights of Schroedinger in his seminal “What is life?”. But even Boltzmann [bsky, 5 points, 1 comments]

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