Question

Some critics of biological evolution claim that it violates the second law of thermodynamics, since evolution involves simple life forms developing into more complex and more highly ordered organisms. Explain why this is not a valid argument against evolution.

Short answer

The statement that "biological evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics" is not valid.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1:Second law of thermodynamics

The second law of thermodynamics is associated with the entropy change of the system. According to the law, every change in a closed system is always associated with an increase in entropy and can be expressed as,

$∆\mathrm{S}=∆\mathrm{QT}$

Here,$∆S$ is the change in entropy, $∆Q$is the heat transferred and $T$is the temperature.

Biological evalution

When we consider the human evolution, which involves simple life forms developing into more complex and more highly ordered organisms, the entropy decreases here. But, since the system is not a closed one, there can be other ways that the entropy must have increased elsewhere.

Thus, the statement that "biological evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics" is not valid.