(Materials Science) 1st Edition
by Pierre Delhaes (Author)
A thermodynamic system is defined
according to its environment and its compliance. This book promotes the
classification of materials from generalized thermodynamics outside the
equilibrium state and not solely according to their chemical origin.
The
author goes beyond standard classification of materials and extends it
to take into account the living, ecological, economic and financial
systems in which they exist: all these systems can be classified
according to their deviation from an ideal situation of thermodynamic
equilibrium.
The concepts of dynamic complexity and
hierarchy, emphasizing the crucial role played by cycles and rhythms,
then become fundamental. Finally, the limitations of the uniqueness of
this description that depend on thermodynamic foundations based on the
concepts of energy and entropy are discussed in relation to the
cognitive sciences.
