Chapter 6

I know I said that I was posting the favorite parts of the book, but it just so happens that they are in the same section of the book.

Chapter 6 attempts to answer the question of whether time has a direction. There are two ways of looking at this question. First, is through observation, and if you were to do so you would find that certain events seem to only occur in one specific direction such as an egg smashing against the floor. However, the laws of classical physics do not include the concept of time, and therefore can be reversed. Thus the conclusion you would draw from observation is only partially incorrect, as you would also have to accept that it is possible for he egg to reform and return to its previous location. The second way to approach the issue of whether time has a direction is to look at the question in a different way. It is logical to look at the transition from an egg to splattered goop is one that goes from highly ordered to disordered. By looking at the question in that manner it is possible to apply Ludwig Boltzmann's equation for entropy (S=K*logW). This is because entropy is the tendency of things to enter into a more uniform state. Thus it is the second law of thermodynamics that allows for time to have a direction. Expanding upon that, by assuming that the universe started with a low entropy and applying gravity to the laws of physics, it can be calculated that not only has the amount of entropy in the universe not decreased with the formation of planets and stars, it has actually increased by a vast amount due to the loss of energy in the form of heat.