Ask A Scientist© Biology Archive

Author:      Murphy iii
Text:        Does the THEORY of evolution contradict the Second Law of 
thermodynamics?  If not, how can an organic system grow in complexity in light 
of that law?  Do not even try to tell me that hot methane soup has less chaos 
than cool DNA.

Response #:  1 of 1
Author:      profbill
Text:        The second law only says that the entropy (disorder) of a 
complete closed system must increase with time, not that the orderliness of 
one part of that system cannot increase.  Increasing complexity of life must 
be balanced with more increase of disorder somewhere else in the system.  Life 
itself increases order, but only of a small part of the overall system, whose 
entropy, when all parts are added up, must always be increasing.