Entropy - A Very Short Introduction

Entropy is an idea that is no less important than energy, but it is not widely understood. We are surrounded by free energy: what we value is energy that's not too polluted with entropy. This book explains how the concepts of energy and entropy were separated from one another over half a century.

List of contents

• Preface


• 1: The age of confusion


• 2: Thermodynamics arrives


• 3: Entropy and the energy transition


• 4: The mechanics of entropy


• 5: The principle of maximum entropy


• 6: Image reconstruction


• 7: Entropy and quantum mechanics


• 8: Entropy and gravity


• 9: Wrapping up


• Notes and further reading

About the author

James Binney, FRS, is an astrophysicist at Oxford University. He is the co-author of The Physics of Quantum Mechanics (2013) with David Skinner, along with Astrophysics: A Very Short Introduction.

Product details

• Authors: James (Emeritus Professor of Physics Binney, Binney James
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 29.12.2025
• EAN: 9780198901488
• ISBN: 978-0-19-890148-8
• No. of pages: 128
• Series: Very Short Introductions
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Physics, astronomy > General, dictionaries; SCIENCE / Physics / General, ENERGY, SCIENCE / Chemistry / General, SCIENCE / Energy, SCIENCE / Physics / Relativity, chemistry, Physics, Relativity physics, Statistical physics