--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The law that entropy always increases…" description: "\"“The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. If someone points out to you that your pet theory..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/622/arthur-eddington-8366_entropy_the-law-that-entropy-always-increases-ho_1070653.png" --- # The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the… ![“The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell's equations - then so much the worse for Maxwell's equations. If it is found to be contradicted by…” quote by Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/622/arthur-eddington-8366_entropy_the-law-that-entropy-always-increases-ho_1070653.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/622/arthur-eddington-8366_entropy_the-law-that-entropy-always-increases-ho_1070653.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/622/arthur-eddington-8366_entropy_the-law-that-entropy-always-increases-ho_1070653.png) > ““The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell's equations - then so much the worse for Maxwell's equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation - well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the Second Law of Thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it to collapse in deepest humiliation.”” [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The second law of thermodynamics is an inviolable constraint; any theory contradicting it is untenable. **In simple terms:** Second law cannot be broken. Key Takeaway Check theories against entropy. Themes physics law entropy theory science Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - research proposals - theoretical physics - engineering designs - policy decisions Key Concepts thermodynamics fundamental limits scientific method Questions to Reflect On - Can any system truly defy entropy? - How do we reconcile apparent violations? A Different Perspective Entropy increase is statistical, not absolute, allowing local decreases. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Entropy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entropy/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [“The law that entropy always increases, holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. … if your theory is found to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-stanley-eddington/the-law-that-entropy-always-increases-holds-i-think-the-supreme/) [Arthur Stanley Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-stanley-eddington/) > [Professor Eddington has recently remarked that 'The law that entropy always increases - the second law of thermodynamics - holds, I think, the supreme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/professor-eddington-has-recently-remarked-that-the-law-that-entropy/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [“It will be noticed that the fundamental theorem proved above bears some remarkable resemblances to the second law of thermodynamics. Both are properties of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-a-fisher/it-will-be-noticed-that-the-fundamental-theorem-proved-above-bears/) Ronald A. Fisher > [An egg is a beautiful, sophisticated thing that can create even more sophisticated things, such as chickens. And we know in our heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-christian/an-egg-is-a-beautiful-sophisticated-thing-that-can-create-even-more/) [David Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-christian/) > [If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell's equations-then so much the worse for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/if-someone-points-out-to-you-that-your-pet-theory-of-the-universe-is/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [Just like a computer, we must remember things in the order in which entropy increases. This makes the second law of thermodynamics almost trivial.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/just-like-a-computer-we-must-remember-things-in-the-order-in-which/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [Aging is a staircase - the upward ascension of the human spirit, bringing us into wisdom, wholeness and authenticity. As you may know, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/aging-is-a-staircase-the-upward-ascension-of-the-human-spirit/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [The total disorder in the universe, as measured by the quantity that physicists call entropy, increases steadily over time. Also, the total order in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/the-total-disorder-in-the-universe-as-measured-by-the-quantity-that/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [“Leo Szilard, in 1929, showed that the very act of acquiring information about a system increases its entropy in proportion to the amount of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-mahon/leo-szilard-in-1929-showed-that-the-very-act-of-acquiring-information/) [Basil Mahon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-mahon/) > [Entropy increases. Things fall apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/entropy-increases-things-fall-apart/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Another way to describe the Second Law is in terms of entropy, the degree of disorder and randomness in a system. Any spontaneous process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/another-way-to-describe-the-second-law-is-in-terms-of-entropy-the/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [In the complex course of its evolution, life exhibits a remarkable contrast to the tendency expressed in the Second Law to Thermodynamics. Where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-h-rush/in-the-complex-course-of-its-evolution-life-exhibits-a-remarkable/) J. H. Rush > [I find the big bang, really quite fascinating. I mean, here you have all these highfalutin scientists and they're saying it was this gigantic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/i-find-the-big-bang-really-quite-fascinating-i-mean-here-you-have-all/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [Evolution in the biosphere is therefore a necessarily irreversible process defining a direction in time; a direction which is the same as that enjoined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-monod/evolution-in-the-biosphere-is-therefore-a-necessarily-irreversible/) [Jacques Monod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-monod/) > [“Time goes forward because energy itself is always moving from an available to an unavailable state. Our consciousness is continually recording the entropy change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-rifkin/time-goes-forward-because-energy-itself-is-always-moving-from-an/) [Jeremy Rifkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-rifkin/) ## More by Arthur Eddington > [Observation and theory get on best when they are mixed together, both helping one another in the pursuit of truth. It is a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/observation-and-theory-get-on-best-when-they-are-mixed-together-both/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [Proof is an idol before which the mathematician tortures himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/proof-is-an-idol-before-which-the-mathematician-tortures-himself/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [It is one thing for the human mind to extract from the phenomena of nature the laws which it has itself put into them;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/it-is-one-thing-for-the-human-mind-to-extract-from-the-phenomena-of/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [Don't believe the results of experiments until they're confirmed by theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/don-t-believe-the-results-of-experiments-until-they-re-confirmed-by/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [Probably the simplest hypothesis... is that there may be a slow process of annihilation of matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/probably-the-simplest-hypothesis-is-that-there-may-be-a-slow-process/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [There was a time when we wanted to be told what an electron is. The question was never answered. No familiar conceptions can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/there-was-a-time-when-we-wanted-to-be-told-what-an-electron-is-the/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [To the pure geometer the radius of curvature is an incidental characteristic - like the grin of the Cheshire cat. To the physicist it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/to-the-pure-geometer-the-radius-of-curvature-is-an-incidental/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [Shuffling is the only thing which Nature cannot undo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/shuffling-is-the-only-thing-which-nature-cannot-undo/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [The universe will finally become a ball of radiation, becoming more and more rarified and passing into longer and longer wave-lengths. The longest waves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/the-universe-will-finally-become-a-ball-of-radiation-becoming-more/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [Science is one thing, wisdom is another. Science is an edged tool, with which men play like children, and cut their own fingers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/science-is-one-thing-wisdom-is-another-science-is-an-edged-tool-with/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [We often think that when we have completed our study of one we know all about two, because 'two' is 'one and one.' We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/we-often-think-that-when-we-have-completed-our-study-of-one-we-know/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [If your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I give you no hope; there is nothing for it but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/if-your-theory-is-found-to-be-against-the-second-law-of/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [Human life is proverbially uncertain; few things are more certain than the solvency of a life-insurance company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/human-life-is-proverbially-uncertain-few-things-are-more-certain-than/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [ \[When thinking about the new relativity and quantum theories\] I have felt a homesickness for the paths of physical science where there are ore… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/when-thinking-about-the-new-relativity-and-quantum-theories-i-have/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [There is no space without aether, and no aether which does not occupy space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/there-is-no-space-without-aether-and-no-aether-which-does-not-occupy/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) [Explore all 81 Arthur Eddington quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) ## More Entropy quotes > [Forgotten thought is the ultimate entropy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-lintern/forgotten-thought-is-the-ultimate-entropy/) Neil Lintern > [“Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. To avoid this condition, people are naturally eager to fill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/entropy-is-the-normal-state-of-consciousness-a-condition-that-is/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [Systems program building is an entropy-decreasing process, hence inherently metastable. Program maintenance is an entropy-increasing process, and even its most skillful execution only delays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/systems-program-building-is-an-entropy-decreasing-process-hence/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We could not, for example, arrive at a principle like that of entropy without introducing some additional principle, such as randomness, to this topography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/we-could-not-for-example-arrive-at-a-principle-like-that-of-entropy/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [“Entropy The Disintegrating Integration of Cheez-Whiz Squirts Insipid Inspiration Quoth the Oblong Eclipse of Nether-Knowledge Never Knowing Decaying Matter in a Decaying Orbit Orangutans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ubiquitous-bubba/entropy-the-disintegrating-integration-of-cheez-whiz-squirts-insipid/) Ubiquitous Bubba > [“What I have said about the newspapers and the movies applies equally to the radio, to television, and even to bookselling. Thus we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-wiener/what-i-have-said-about-the-newspapers-and-the-movies-applies-equally/) [Norbert Wiener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-wiener/) > [What's important is how we use our time on this earth, not how conspicuously we give our money away. What's important is the energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-pallotta/what-s-important-is-how-we-use-our-time-on-this-earth-not-how/) [Dan Pallotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-pallotta/) > [You know, entropy is associated thermodynamically, in systems involving heat, with disorder. And in an analogous way, information is associated with disorder, which seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/you-know-entropy-is-associated-thermodynamically-in-systems-involving/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [The increase of disorder or entropy is what distinguishes the past from the future, giving a direction to time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-increase-of-disorder-or-entropy-is-what-distinguishes-the-past/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [“It is very desirable to have a word to express the Availability for work of the heat in a given magazine; a term for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-guthrie-tait/it-is-very-desirable-to-have-a-word-to-express-the-availability-for/) Peter Guthrie Tait > [“One thing seems certain. Our galaxy is now in the brief springtime of its life—a springtime made glorious by such brilliant blue-white stars as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/one-thing-seems-certain-our-galaxy-is-now-in-the-brief-springtime-of/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Entropy theory, on the other hand, is not concerned with the probability of succession in a series of items but with the overall distribution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/entropy-theory-on-the-other-hand-is-not-concerned-with-the/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [“Another way to describe the Second Law is in terms of entropy, the degree of disorder and randomness in a system. Any spontaneous process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/another-way-to-describe-the-second-law-is-in-terms-of-entropy-the/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [The general struggle for existence of animate beings is not a struggle for raw materials, these for organisms are air water & soil, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-boltzmann/the-general-struggle-for-existence-of-animate-beings-is-not-a/) [Ludwig Boltzmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-boltzmann/) > [I think you should always bear in mind that entropy is not on your side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-think-you-should-always-bear-in-mind-that-entropy-is-not-on-your/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) [Browse all 180 Entropy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entropy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. 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