In the universe, that which is not time or space, is energy. The laws of thermodynamics govern the inner workings of energy in the uni-verse. Without them, the universe would be an amorphic blob with noth-ing to do and with no energy to do it. These laws demonstrate the uni-verse had a beginning and that the beginning could not have been itself.

Thermodynamics is the study of heat and energy and how this ap-plies to work. Work is when a force moves an object in the direction of that force, but there is no work unless motion takes place. Energy is the ability to do work. The two types of energy are kinetic and potential -- ki-netic energy is that energy which is in motion and all atoms have kinetic energy which produces heat. The heat is measured in the amount of work done. The laws of thermodynamics have been widely observed in experiments and they have an application for many different venues. A thermodynamic system as a collection of objects and the universe is the environment of that system. Typically, the four laws of thermodynamics are called, Zeroth, First Law, Second Law, and Third Law.

Zeroth law is the law of equilibrium; if two bodies are in thermal equilibrium with a third, then they are also in equilibrium with each other. For example, if a hot object comes in contact with a cold object, heat will be transferred from the hot object as long as the temperatures remain different. Eventually, when the temperatures become the same, the objects are in 'thermal equilibrium.'� This would be assuming no thermodynamic variable of either object is changing. Consequently, there are experimental situations where Zeroth law fails and violates the sec-ond law. Although Zeroth was formulated last, it was a necessary ele-ment in unifying the first two laws and consequently, should have been considered first.

The first law is the law of energy conservation. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed in form; when energy is changed in form, the total energy remains unvarying. Einstein came up with the idea that matter is a form of energy; however, it is readily observable every-where in the world that no new materials are being created and that man can only alter materials that already exist. The first law precludes a sys-tem from putting out more work than the amount of energy a system takes in as heat ' if this were possible, it would be called a perpetual mo-tion machine. Furthermore, the second law precludes a system from so much as breaking even.

The second law of thermodynamics is the law of energy decay. In any system left to its own devises, entropy increases. Entropy, which is always flowing in a downward direction, is that quantity of energy that cannot be converted to perform work, thus increasing disorder. After a sufficient amount of time has passed, all of the energy of the universe will eventually become a low level, random heat energy. Eventually, the universe will die from what is termed as 'heat death.'� Hawking calls this the arrow of time because time can only move in one direction; time is prevented from moving backwards by the second law. Then Hawking makes an interesting observation: 'Disorder increases with time because we measure time in the direction in which disorder increases.'�

As far as science has been able to observe, this disorder applies to all systems whether open or closed and is not reversible. All systems within the universe are considered open systems because energy comes from an outside source to replenish the energy. It has been assumed that the universe itself is a closed system; however, based on objective obser-vation and experimentation, the universe must be an open system. A re-versible process is a hypothetical construct where the system is virtually in balance all the time. This hypothetical system would be able to go back exactly in the opposite direction to its initial state; however, to be reality, it must be possible to eliminate friction and all other forms of en-ergy loss, but because of the requirements, no reversible processes have been observed in nature. As a result of this, all natural processes are taken to be irreversible.

In order to accommodate those who believe that laws were made to be broken, scientists came up with the third law referred to as the abso-lute zero law. If an element reaches absolute zero, then entropy would be zero. Because no system can be cooled to absolute zero, this is purely hypothetical. This then presents a conundrum; if an element is at abso-lute zero, it is destined to remain there forever apart from an external in-fluence raising the temperature. Because this results in a universe with plenty of energy but no way to use it, the universe is no better off than it was without the laws.

The study of thermodynamics becomes exciting when the ramifica-tions are applied to the notions of evolution or intelligent design. Henry Morris relates two arguments that some scientists use in order to get around these laws: the second law is not relevant to systems that are alive, and 'the second law is only a statistical statement'� to which there are possible exceptions. Such affirmative arguments are directly opposed to what is observed in nature or confirmed experimentally and therefore collapse under their own weight. Even Hawking recognizes flaws in his own argument and it becomes necessary to try to answer the new ques-tions which bring up new problems. Tipler, in the Physics of Immortality, asserts that some scientists, S. Arrhenius, for example, argue that the creation of the universe would violate the first law and it would be occa-sionally necessary to replace dissipated energy (90). This argument, too, is fallacious because while the first law precludes the universe from be-ing its own cause, it does not prevent an outside cause which would be the situation in the case of creation.

The laws of thermodynamics are so well established that many sci-entists have argued any theory that goes against these laws is hopelessly flawed. At the same time, because these laws inescapably point towards creation, they are among the most hotly debated laws of science. Despite the most cleverly devised arguments, and eloquent speeches, at the end of the debate these laws are still the same.

Want to comment on this Blogs? Sign up to Edit Red and you will be able to comment on Blogs and get access to: Upload your own stories and poems, get readers and their feedback, promote your work...