The refrigerator and the universe - Martin Goldstein

C. P. Snow once remarked that not knowing the second law of
thermodynamics is like never having read Shakespeare. Yet, while many
people grasp the first law of energy, "Energy can neither be created nor
destroyed," few recognize the second, "Entropy can only increase." What
is entropy anyway, and why must it increase? Whether we want to know
how a device as simple as a refrigerator works or understand the fate of
the universe, we must start with the concepts of energy and entropy.

In The Refrigerator and the Universe,
Martin and Inge Goldstein explain the laws of thermodynamics for
science buffs and neophytes alike. They begin with a lively presentation
of the historical development of thermodynamics. The authors then show
how the laws follow from the atomic theory of matter and give examples
of their applicability to such diverse phenomena as the radiation of
light from hot bodies, the formation of diamonds from graphite, how the
blood carries oxygen, and the history of the earth. The laws of energy,
the Goldsteins conclude, have something to say about everything, even if
they do not tell us everything about anything.