Assignment: Consider the question “Do living organisms violate the second law of thermodynamics?”. Write a two to three page1 essay (handwritten or typed) that describes arguments on both sides of this issue (life does, life doesn’t violate the second law). In other words, how would someone argue that life does violate the 2nd law? How would that argument be supported? Versus, how would someone argue against that point of view? How would this counter argument be supported?
Your essay should be based on research you do. Both print and/or online resources may be consulted. Note that a simple Google search using keywords like “2nd law”,” entropy”, “life” etc. will yield many resources. Be critical of what you read and distill the ideas enough so you can clearly present arguments on both sides2 of the issue. Provide a list of references at the end of the essay using any format that allows the reader (me) to locate the resource (MLA format satisfies this requirement, for example). At least two references must be consulted.
