I have written about the first, second and third laws of thermodynamics; these three laws are numbered in chronological order and, I believe, in logical order. But, in 1932, the English physicist Sir Ralph Fowler (1889-1944) proposed that there should be a further law that logically belonged before the other three. So it is called… Continue reading 24.11 Zeroth law of thermodynamics

A more accurate description of this post would be, seeking a single, simple cause for the combined effect of many factors. But this would be a very cumbersome heading. Let’s look at an everyday example: a man is depressed after his wife leaves him. His friends believe he is depressed because his wife left him.… Continue reading 24.10 Multifactorial problems – seeking a cause that doesn’t exist