Introduction
Revised 1 September 2021
No one is going to repeal the second law of thermodynamics, not even the democrats. - Kenneth Boulding
Energy is involved in the transformation of all physical systems, including the growth and maintenance of different forms of life. Humankind's survival is totally dependent on the access and use of energy in the form of food and the combination of energy and concentrated minerals in its technology.
All forms of energy are inter-convertible and when conversions occur, they do so according to rigorous laws of exchange. The laws of classical thermodynamics were derived and defined as the results of experiments in which macroscopic visible-to-the-eye properties such as temperature, pressure, and volume could be measured directly. The principles and laws of classical thermodynamics were formalised by Clausius (1867) who based his work on the earlier writings of Rumford, Mayer, Joule, and Carnot.