In response to the following letter (itself a response to The Guardian’s “Creative Science In Our Universities”) by Christopher Jordan, Derby:
“It would have been interesting had Richard Dawkins addressed the assertion by Professor McIntosh that evolution and the second law of thermodynamics are incompatible. While not wishing to question the law, nor to support creationism, a consequence of the second law is that the randomness of the universe is increasing, whereas when we consider the increasing complexity of life, that can hardly be said of evolutionary processes.”
I replied:
Sir,
Christopher Jordan (Guardian Letters, 20th December) implies that a consequence of The Second Law of Thermodynamics is that evolution could not work however a little research indicates this view to be based on a lack of understanding of the nature of the laws.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is a fundamental law of physics that states that there is a general tendency of all observed systems to go from order to disorder (or more accurately, move towards a higher state of entropy) and Mr. Jordan is apparently unaware that it explicitly states, “…in a closed system…” A fully closed system cannot contain anything external to itself and planets, stars & stellar systems are not closed as they feature elements external to themselves indeed the only example of a perfect closed system is the universe itself.
Of course the laws of thermodynamics do not rule out the possibility of intelligent design, such considerations are simply not factors that are considered with respect to the calculation of thermodynamic probability. Considering the earth as a system, any change that is accompanied by an entropy decrease is possible as long as sufficient energy is available and the ultimate source of most of that energy, is of course, the sun.
Nature is replete with examples of structures forming spontaneously but in fully explainable terms that, if Mr. Jordan were correct, would also defy the laws of thermodynamics for instance sand dunes, snowflakes, crystals etc. and in objective terms about all the Second Law of Thermodynamics really says about living organisms is that an organism that stops eating will die.
James C. Rocks
“Science, Just Science” Campaign.
We shall see 
Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)
