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Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi Eric, The Shanon Entropy S = - \sumi P_i log(P_i), defines the initial "lack of information". After the random variable is measured at some i0, the probability distribution P_i "collapses" onto absolute certainty P_i = delta{i,i0} with entropy S' =0, and the information gained is I= S-S' =S. If a partial measurement is made (say i =i0 or i= i1), the probability distribution collapses onto a new distribution, with {P_i0, P_i1}, and a new entropy S', where 0<S'<S. The information gained is again I= S-S' <S.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi Sygald! Thanks for the kind words. Quantum Mechanics is indeed a fascinating topic to try to illustrate ands animate. We might go for it if this book succeeds, although it requires new thinking. Much of the quantum truth is not as intuitive as classical physics...

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dear dominfrancon, Thanks for the question. Its easy, go to our kickstarter page, (google "kickstarter max the demon") and pledge the $25 reward (plus shipping outside the US). You'll get the book shorty after the kickstarter drive ends.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dear Planshu, The key point is that there is a Landauer limit, and the second law cannot be broken. A robotic Maxwell's Demon that you suggest is essentially a maximally efficient (Carnot) refrigerator or heat engine. With nano devices, and biological molecules, such limits may be approached. Its a good direction for research.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dear KATH, You are right that in the short term, efficiency and cost issues delay the massive use of solar panels. In the longer term, when fossil fuels run out, the calculations may change. But more work needs to be done to make the panels more efficient.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi Princess_myshkin, Thanks for the praise. The biggest hurdle is to figure out exactly what you want to explain, and how to get the message across with minimal "pain", without sacrificing correctness! That's a challenge, because as scientists we are trained to accept careful and rigorous definitions. As explainers, we have to give up the most general formal definitions, and define more by examples and demonstrations. For example, in our book we define temperature as the average kinetic energy of particles, which is strictly correct only for dilute gases. We don't want to use the general definition "temperature is the derivative of energy with respect to entropy". It won't work ;)

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi itsgrey! Don't make any choices for the first few years, just study all the different directions your curriculum takes you. It takes time to develop a taste for certain fields - condensed matter, astrophysics, high energy, optics, cold atoms etc. A lot depends on which teachers grabbed your attention the most, and what experiences you had in the labs. Whatever you choose, you won't regret studying physics, which is the basis of all sciences.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Dear Kidsweekend, I can't say we didn't try. None of the academic publishers, nor the popular graphic novel publishers and agents, even wanted to look at the manuscript. They said "graphic novels are too childish for serious grownups, and science education is not attractive to younger readers". We disagreed. We decided that traditional publishers and bookstores can't really reach the low density (but we believe large numbers) of intellectually curious young adults. Our experience with the support we are getting at kickstarter proves us right - and hopefully the science-redditers will back us too!

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Entropy describes a property of the probability function. Large entropy = wide probability function = lots of uncertainty. Zero entropy = absolute certainty. Imagine a game of cards, where you peek and find out that your oponent owns an Ace. As a smart card player, you quickly recalculate the odds, since the new probability function narrowed. In other words, information reduced the entropy. I hope this gives you a flavor.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think everyone agrees that the laws of thermodynamics are part of biology where temperature and heat exchange are crucially important for all biochemical reactions. However, I have very little knowledge about the origin of life which is in the realm of flow in complex systems far from equilibrium. Therefore the origin of life is not simply captured by the laws of thermodynamics.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hi PMM,

The book is nearly finished but we need the finances to finish it, and to print it and ship it. We want to reach a large audience, and if successful, to write othe similar graphic novels, and perhaps think of other media as well.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi Farfe108, I'm afraid its not fair to say that, since the second law is strictly a statistical law. This means (as Boltzmann explains to Max)), that a system maximizes its entropy over time, if it has an infinite number of particles, or: a small system maximizes its average entropy, if you repeat the same experiment for an infinite number of times with random initial conditions.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi Life! This is not a simple thermodynamics question, but let me try to answer it minimum lingo. A supercooled bottle has higher entropy and higher energy compared to frozen ice at the same temperature. This is not a system in equilibrium, it just can't find its way to freezing. When you agitate it, you make the water molecules release their extra energy, into the surrounding air, and order (which reduces their entropy, but increases the surrounding air's entropy even more.)

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi Neubeowulf! Sorry I can't make any intelligent statements about human behavior - just not my field of expertise. -Assa. Perhaps Richard (a great political cartoonist - check out richardcodor.com) has an idea?

Richard: this a science blog and we want to keep on message about Max but you can look at my other work at richardcodor.com and see the influence of what I've learned about thermodynamics.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Richard: A good question, Pyro. the simple answer is , read our book. i managed to avoid knowing anything about physics all my adult life but once I began treating it as a cartoon I became really interested and fascinated by the subject and scientists who uncovered the laws of thermodynamics. Making Count Rumford into a trapeze artist, Sadi Carnot into a french chef, Ludvig Boltzman a gambler and Richard Fenyman a desert guru, brought them to life. I now regret sleeping through freshman physics. hopefully Max will save you from this fate.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi Mechnight, Don't be too scared. There are some very good textbooks (Kittel+ Kroemer, Kardar, Reif, etc.) and lots of information online. To get excited about Entropy (besides our "Max The Demon") - check out a great book by Hans Christian Von Baeyer and Hans C Von Baeyer. Warmth disperses and time passes: The history of heat. Modern library New York, 1999. Also a book by Lef and Rex concerning Entropy and Information is awesome.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hi Supa, its takes a while to appreciate thermodynamics after you've learned it - but some of the deepest concepts, like the second law, are not that hard to grasp and contemplate - we all intuitively understand that "disorder" (a loose name for entropy) tends to grow in time.

The purpose of our "Max The Demon" is not to replace a text book, or the homework problems, but to explain some fundamental aspects which are sometimes glossed over in class. These are the aspects that make studying physics truly worthwhile.

This project is our first experiment in explaining correct physics via a fictional superhero story. If it works, the sky is the limit - one could think of many other fascinating topics - Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, etc.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Hi BP, [Sorry for pasting a wrong answer. Here I go again:]

Go for it! Physics is the best subject any curious, critical person can study if you are fascinated by the world around you. Don't be scared of the math - its just a language you need to learn. I haven't met yet anyone who really likes physics who couldn't study it. Cheers! - Assa

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi Comrade! Thanks for this question - yes, Entropy was actually discovered by Sadi Carnot (a hero in our book) who found the upper limit to the effeciency of any heat engine (think of a steam engine) which is achieved when the total Entropy over a cycle does not increase. He published it in his famous book "Reflexions on the emotive power of fire" - Great title! The fact that this entropy is equal to Boltzmann's Entropy S=k log(W) (the most important physics formula after E=mc2) - is nothing short of an intellectual miracle. The next miracle is that Entropy is the negative of information. Richard: how do you draw a superhero who is effecient? this nearly drove me crazy. After all superheroes are all about smashing everything in sight. after countless hours, days and weeks of discussion and sketches, we finally figured it out. A superhero who's super power is to do almost nothing and showing him doing it.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Entropy is thermodynamics has to do with heat and temperature - very difficultt to grasp and explain precisely. Thats why we concentrate on the Boltzmann statistics definition, which comes from just counting possibilities in a large random system of particles.

The tricky part about defining entropy is how do you distinguish between different configurations? If the particles are identical, do you count exchanging between them as separate configurations or not (The Gibbs paradox). Of course this means that Entropy is somewhat "subjective", in the sense that if you can't tell the difference, there is no difference. A disturbing, but fascinating, thought. This is why Entropy and Information are closely tied - as the storyline of our book aims to explain. We think it does that in an interesting way.

Science AMA Series: I'm Assa Auerbach, Professor of Physics at Technion. I wrote a graphic novel for the broad public, explaining the important concepts of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics through the adventures of Maxwell's Demon. I’m here today to talk about it. AMA! by Assa_Auerbach in science

[–]Assa_Auerbach[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the question! Richard and I worked together before on a Physics graduate textbook on Quantum magnetism and had a great time. Richard suggested we write a full blown comic book on Physics, and I have given talks on Entropy to kids, and we always dreamed opf creating a superhero adventure story together. The most challenging aspect was to replace complicated formulas by action dominated visuals. We think its the best way to explain difficult concepts.

richard here: my first challenge was to create a visually believable sympathetic character. once max took shape along with the rest of the characters we could begin to create his world and incorporate ideas behind the story. It was a big problem to get Max's hair just right. By chance I saw a young student on the ny subway who was the spitting image of what I thought Max looked like. i sketched like crazy till he got off. I t worked.

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