Entropy by Robert Erlandson

The second law of thermodynamics is a fundamental law of nature. One expression of this law states that the level of disorder in the universe is steadily increasing. Entropy is a measure of the system’s disorder, higher entropy means more disorder.

The image above is known as a ‘haiga’ – a coupling of poetry and imagery, the idea being to create a third art form that is greater than the sum of its parts. Below is an alternate version of the poem that takes the same starting point to create a tanka.

Further reading:

What is the Second Law of Thermodynamics https://www.livescience.com/50941-second-law-thermodynamics.html 

Second Law of Thermodynamics https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/thermo2.html

Entropy and the Second Law http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/py105/Secondlaw.html

Robert Erlandson has published in ‘Haigaonline’, ‘Daily Haiga’, ‘Cattails’, ‘Ribbons’, and ‘Prune Juice’, and a chapbook, ‘AWE’, speaking to the incredible relationships between nature, art, and mathematics. You can find more of his poetry, including some more physics-based haiga here: https://www.circlepublications.net/ 

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