An Essay Concerning the History of Entropy and the Rise of Uncertainty

The advent of the concept of entropy and the discoveries of quantum mechanics have undermined the old certainties and left philosophy behind. We now live in a world where we see uncertainty as a governing principle.

The book covers the rise of science from the Greeks to the followers of Bacon and Descartes. It argues that philosophy and science were interwoven until the 20th century with the certainties of the Baconian programme giving rise to the study of thermodynamics and the enlightenment. The advent of the concept of entropy and the discoveries of quantum mechanics have undermined the old certainties and left philosophy behind. We now live in a world where we see uncertainty as a governing principle.

John Hackworth spent his career in the motor industry, mostly marketing and selling cars and vans. He graduated in engineering at the University of Southampton in 1964 (and thus is very old!), gained a 'Masters' in business at Imperial College and a PhD externally at Cranfield Management School in 1986. His PhD thesis in econometrics was published by Cranfield under the title 'How Many Cars in the 21st Century'. On entering retirement he published a paper a few years ago in 'Economics Letters' entitled 'Uncertainty and the Yield Curve'. Nowadays, in addition to family and village activities and house maintenance he has taken to thinking about life the universe and everything; hence the book.