Maxwell's Demon : Entropy, Information, Computing / Harvey S. Leff, Andrew F. Rex.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Leff, Harvey S., editor.

Rex, Andrew F., editor.

Series:

Princeton series in physics.

Princeton Series in Physics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Maxwell's demon.

Thermodynamics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (0 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

About 120 years ago, James Clerk Maxwell introduced his now legendary hypothetical "demon" as a challenge to the integrity of the second law of thermodynamics. Fascination with the demon persisted throughout the development of statistical and quantum physics, information theory, and computer science--and linkages have been established between Maxwell's demon and each of these disciplines. The demon's seductive quality makes it appealing to physical scientists, engineers, computer scientists, biologists, psychologists, and historians and philosophers of science. Until now its important source material has been scattered throughout diverse journals.This book brings under one cover twenty-five reprints, including seminal works by Maxwell and William Thomson; historical reviews by Martin Klein, Edward Daub, and Peter Heimann; information theoretic contributions by Leo Szilard, Leon Brillouin, Dennis Gabor, and Jerome Rothstein; and innovations by Rolf Landauer and Charles Bennett illustrating linkages with the limits of computation. An introductory chapter summarizes the demon's life, from Maxwell's illustration of the second law's statistical nature to the most recent "exorcism" of the demon based on a need periodically to erase its memory. An annotated chronological bibliography is included.Originally published in 1990.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments and Copyright Information

CHAPTER 1. Overview

CHAPTER 2. Historical and Philosophical Considerations

CHAPTER 3. Maxwell's Demon and Information Acquisition

CHAPTER 4. Maxwell's Demon, Information Erasure, and Computing

Chronological Bibliography with Annotations and Selected Quotations

Alphabetical Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 334-343) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9780691634432

0691634432

9781400861521

1400861527

9780691605463

0691605467

OCLC:

979580468