Entropy: God’s Dice Game

Why do we want more and more money regardless of how much we already have? Why do we hate to be manipulated and to lose? Why do twenty percent of the people own eighty percent of the wealth? Why in most languages, does the most common word appear twice as often as the second most common word? Why does the digit "1" appear in company balance sheets six and a half times more often than the digit "9"? Why does nature hate "bubbles"? The cause for all these phenomena is the very same law that makes water flow from high to low, and heat flow from a hot place to a cold one. This law, which for historical reasons is called the Second Law of Thermodynamics, states that there is a never-decreasing always-increasing quantity called entropy. Entropy represents the uncertainty of a system in hypothetical equilibrium where everybody and everything have equal opportunities but slim chances to win; or in other words - the majority have little and a few have a lot. The book describes the historical evolution of the understanding of entropy, alongside the biographies of the scientists who contributed to its definition and to the exploration of its effects in numerous domains including exact sciences, communication theory, economics and sociology. This book should be of interest to a broad audience, from scientists, engineers and students to the general public.

Oded Kafri received a D.Sc. from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in 1973 for his research on laser radiation. His research experience is in thermodynamics of light, optical metrology, encryption and communication. Dr. Kafri served as senior scientist and a group leader at the Nuclear Research Center-Negev. He has published more than 100 scientific papers, among them two pioneering papers on ＂Visual Cryptography＂ and on ＂Moire deflectometry＂ and holds numerous patents and a scientific monograph. Dr. Kafri has received several international awards, among them the CeBit Highlights award in 1994. Dr. Kafri has also founded three high tech companies. Hava Kafri was the director of the Central School for Training Welfare Workers of the Ministry of Social Affair and Social Services in Be’er Sheva, Israel. During this time, she initiated the translation of and wrote books on early childhood development and education and on respect for the child. She has also translated several fantasy and popular science books. At present, she practices photography and participates in solo and group exhibitions.