...is undoubtedly true as long as we can deal with bodies only in mass, and have no power of procuring or handling the separate molecules of which they are...attributes are still as essentially finite as our own, wpuld be able to do what is at present impossible to us. For we have seen that the molecules in a vessel...

...made up. But if we conceive a being," — and here we are introduced to the ' sorting demon ' — " whose faculties are so sharpened that he can follow every molecule in ita course, such a being, whose attributes are still as essentially finite as our own, would be able...

...without the expenditure of work. This is the second law of thermo-dynamics, and it is undoubtedly true so long as we can deal with bodies only in mass, and...he can follow every molecule in its course, such a 1 Theory of Heat, 3rd ed. p. 308. Longmans, 1872. being, whose attributes are still as essentially...

...without the expenditure of work. This is the second law of thermo-dynamics, and it is undoubtedly true so long as we can deal with bodies only in mass, and...he can follow every molecule in its course, such a 1 Theory of Heat, 3rd ed. p. 308. Longmans, 1872. being, whose attributes are still as essentially...

...mass, and have no power of perceiving or handling the separate molecules of which they are made up. Put if we conceive a being whose faculties are so sharpened...he can follow every molecule in its course, such a 1 Theory of Heal, 3rd ed. p. 308. Longmans, 1872. being, whose attributes are still as essentially...

...special conditions. In illustration of these he supposes the existence of a being, or demon as it were, whose faculties are so sharpened that he can follow every molecule in its course and who can accordingly discriminate between the fast -moving and the slow-moving molecules in a gas....

...molecules of which they are made up But if we conceive a being whose faculties are so sharpened that he e follow every molecule in its course, such a being, whose attributes are still essentially finite as our own, would be able to do what is at present im possible to us. For we have...

...including wireless telegraphy, are due, thought that he had found a way out of the difficulty. He conceived a being whose faculties are so sharpened that he can...follow every molecule in its course. Such a being, known in physics as Maxwell's Demon, could sort the molecules so as to allow the swifter ones to go...

...uniform temperature? These dreams were given a very clear expression by Maxwell, who in 1871 imagined "a being whose faculties are so sharpened that he can follow every molecule in its course." This being, who later became known as Maxwell's demon, can do surprising things: For we have seen that...

...proposed a mechanism that has since become an integral part of thermodynamic lore14: [The Second Law] ... is undoubtedly true as long as we can deal with bodies...follow every molecule in its course, such a being . . . would be able to do what is at present impossible to us. And so was born the famous (or perhaps...