[Shiraz (Ray)]

Hi Guys. I was initially concerned that my understanding of entropy did not match what I observed - an underground mine that was tapping into a lode of ore that should not have been there if my understanding that "order decreases" was correct. Carl set the record straight on mechanisms for ore concentration, but obviously something was wrong with my view of entropy.

From the discussion here and much recent reading, it seems that the difficulty in explaining entropy in readily understood terms is widely recognised - I am definitely not alone in finding problems with the conventional explanation based on decreasing order. However, it is also clear that entropy really does represent the principal physical driver of "life the universe and everything" so it is probably worth looking for a succinct but meaningful statement of just what it is.

The image that I now have in my mind is of a stream flowing to a lake. The water forms relatively stable eddies in the rapids and pools along the way - but these reduce as the stream widens and eventually all of the water stops flowing in a calm lake. The eddies and patterns of flow are temporary foci of order that represent what we see as reality (atoms, galaxies, our own lives etc), where order can appear to increase for a time, but eventually the eddies break up and everything continues on the inexorable trip to the still lake. And the imperative to increase Entropy (get to the lake) is what is driving it. This image will do me for now, but it would be great to find a less lyrical way to express it.

The idea of microstates is appealing and the idea of a balance between random and non-random processes is also interesting, but both require a fair degree of prior knowledge. Maybe that is the root of the problem - maybe entropy is just too complex and wide-ranging a concept to be fully conveyed in a few words?

Regards Ray