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Mention Books As The Last Question
| Original Title: | The Last Question (When the World Ends) |
| ISBN: | 1884214495 (ISBN13: 9781884214493) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Isaac Asimov
Audio CD | Pages: 9 pages Rating: 4.58 | 17640 Users | 1151 Reviews
Describe Containing Books The Last Question
| Title | : | The Last Question |
| Author | : | Isaac Asimov |
| Book Format | : | Audio CD |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 9 pages |
| Published | : | November 2007 by Ziggurat Productions (first published November 1956) |
| Categories | : | Science Fiction. Short Stories. Fiction. Classics |
Rendition Supposing Books The Last Question
What's the point in giving you a summery for a 4,000-word short story? So here's what I'll do instead: I'll give you a lesson in physics. Sound good? Cool. Ever hear of the second law of thermodynamics? Yes? But you have no clue what it means? Okay, well we can work with that. Here's what Wikipedia has on the subject:The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated system never decreases, because isolated systems spontaneously evolve towards thermodynamic equilibrium—the state of maximum entropy.
Pretty simple, right? What do you mean you don't understand entropy? Of course you understand entropy, I assure you. Every time you see a sand castle crumble away in the wind, every time your car breaks down on the road, every time somebody you know dies and is gone forever... you are seeing entropy in motion. Entropy is the measure of disorder in a system... a measure of chaos. The second law of thermodynamics tells us that entropy in a closed system, be it your sand castle, car, or life... never decreases, it will only ever increase to maximum.
But here's the thing, it's not really a law by any means. Nothing in all of actual physics states that this must be, physics actually says it's perfectly possible for random sand molecules to be blown in a way where they land and form a perfect sandcastle (instead of making one crumble away). So why not? Why don't we see things like this happen? Statistics. Yes, the second law of thermodynamics is actually a statistical principle; entropy could indeed decrease in a system (any system like this would be considered a perpetual motion machine), but it's just not statistically likely.
Meaning a sand castle could coincidently form by the winds blowing dust randomly..., but it won't. It won't because the statistical likelihood of the wind and molecules to just happen to be in the right position and velocity for this sand castle to just appear is so slim, I do not have enough memory in my computer to type out all the zeros I need to put behind the odds of it happening (1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,...).
This statistical principle is so powerful and universal, we call it a law. It explains a lot of things in our universe. Before we knew about the second law of thermodynamics, it used to bother physicist that we could move in any direction in space (up, down, forward, backward) but we could only move in one direction in time. Space and time being so closely linked, why was it we could only move forward in time? It’s because entropy always increases that we move forward in time (and never back in time), in a way time is just a measure of increasing entropy. We only go from one moment to another as entropy increases.
Ahhh, I see what you are thinking. Yes, our universe is a closed system, and yes that does mean it will die, . You think it's a little sad that in the end chaos will always win? I don't think so, after all life is beautiful don't you think? Life is amazing in that it can bring a little bit of order in this chaotic world, but funny enough, without entropy there would be no life. So I don't think it's sad, it's just the natural state of affairs that we will grow old, live our lives fighting entropy, and we will die. it's really quite beautiful.
If you want to read a book that asks the questions: what if we could defeat entropy? What if we could win? What would happen? Read this book.
Rating Containing Books The Last Question
Ratings: 4.58 From 17640 Users | 1151 ReviewsWrite Up Containing Books The Last Question
Probably the single most brilliant piece of short fiction I have had the pleasure of reading. And the most influential story in my post existentialist/depression life.I stumbled upon this story around five years ago. It was part of a compilation of short stories in the book we used for our literature 1 in school. I still remember the first time I read it.The shock, the reaction, the sadfaksdnasd when I had finished reading it is still fresh in my mind.Actually I remembered the story but not theI like the idea of God being a supercomputer. This makes sense.
I feel like my life has changed in the space of half an hour...
It gave me goosebumps. This is one of the most beautiful and thrilling short stories I've ever read. :')
Our Sun will support life for billions of years, but what happens when it burns out? Perhaps future technology will enable us to seek out the safety of distant stars and habitat new planets, but then eventually those stars will die too. So is life as we know it, and all of mankind, destined to be doomed? Is it possible to reverse entropy? This short story starts off in the year 2061 (keep in mind this was written in 1956) and follows the evolution of man and the subsequent advancement of
The Last Question is a beautiful and engaging short story. Whether you pick reading its 20+ pages, or listen to an audio recording, I recommend you don't miss this little gem.Asimov gives a visual account of a cosmological theory, an answer to the question "how to reverse entropy?", or the wonder of creation of an universe at all.You can find it online for free.
What's the point in giving you a summery for a 4,000-word short story? So here's what I'll do instead: I'll give you a lesson in physics. Sound good? Cool. Ever hear of the second law of thermodynamics? Yes? But you have no clue what it means? Okay, well we can work with that. Here's what Wikipedia has on the subject: The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated system never decreases, because isolated systems spontaneously evolve towards thermodynamic equilibriumthe
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