从热力学开始的世界。
杜克大学机械系的Adrian Bejan是热力学大牛，知道他是因为他和George Tsatsaronis合作的文章，他为热力学作出了重大贡献的同时，也尝试拓宽热力学的疆域，总结出“构形理论 (Constructal Theory) ”，不仅促进了工程设计的发展，还运用在社会学甚至人文的领域里。值得一提是，这位大牛自幼展现绘画天赋，甚至还是罗马尼亚篮球国家队队员，可谓是六边形战士了。
Time And Beauty - Why Time Flies And Beauty Never Dies (2022)
这本书写于疫情期间，在疫情封闭时期人们会觉得时间变慢了，作者以时间流逝为起点，用工程的方法结合观察的角度进行讨论，同时引入了“美”的定义。时间是客观的，是科学的；美是主观的，是个人的。两个看似无关的概念为什么能够放在一起讨论呢？
Time is not to be confused with beauty. To paint time is as absurd as to clock beauty. Different does not mean unrelated.
“不一样不意味着无关。”
Time
首先关于时间。我们之所以感受到时间的流逝速度不均，是因为我们感知时间的系统——我们是通过和外界的交互来感受时间，而不是像时钟一样一分一秒地转动。
The first is our perception of time and why we feel that time flies faster as we get older.
Humans perceive change in the observed surroundings, not ‘clock time’.
The reason is that the time measured by a clock is not the same as the time perceived by the human mind.
其次，关于美学，我们感知（视觉）美丽依赖于眼睛和视觉，两只眼睛提供的视觉范围，还有我们扫视过事物的方式，决定了我们更善于接受怎样的视觉刺激。
Second, beauty attracts because beautifully shaped images are scanned faster by the two eyes.
They look beautiful for two reasons: the observer has two eyes aligned horizontally, and the eyes scan the observed image in short, sudden motions (saccades 扫视).
为什么长大了觉得时间过得更快？这个发现被Paul Janet称作“比率定律（Proportion Theory）”。作者认为，我们在孩童时期受到很多新鲜的刺激，而到了长大的时候固化，尤其在疫情期间百无聊赖，所以视觉刺激的减少让我们觉得时间变慢。
Beauty
作者看来，美有几个要素，首先是实用性：
Beauty is attractive because it is useful, physically. The features and habits reviewed here happened naturally in the long run of human evolution because they made our ancestors better, more efficient, safer, longer-lasting movers on earth. The individual wants to be left alone in peace.
其次是美的反差性——不可预测的反差带来美丽，千篇一律的世界缺乏兴趣。而如何定义变化？边界！
In human perception, contrast is the same as the change in time
In this case, nature shows us “boundaries” without the presence of thin lines between adjacent areas that are only slightly different.
Difference is interesting, uniformity is not. This is particularly true in scientific work.
In the science of thermodynamics, we see the shortcomings of drawing a line (called boundary, incorrectly) to separate the spot of interest (called system) from the rest (called environment).
在热力学里，边界条件非常重要，毕竟大多数物质都遵循相同或者相似的定律，而不同的边界条件定义了不同的情形。为什么会有边界条件的存在，边界条件意味着什么？而在热力学里，边界是差异，边界是划分，在实际的自然世界里，边界并不是这样的，这是模型和公式里人为塑造的。我们总是要先确立controlled system/controlled volume才能开始解题，而我们从一开始就“错”了，本没有这条线的，这个世界本是一体的。卡森从古典学的方式给了我们厄洛斯的欲望边界的解答，和这里有异曲同工之妙。
值得一提的是作者否认了时间和熵的直接联系：
Today, some authors ask whether entropy and the second law are associated with “the arrow of time.” The answer is no
Idea
思想的流动是单向的，正如卡森描述的欲望流动一样：
If good, the idea keeps flowing on a growing territory from those who got it to those who would benefit from getting it.
The growth is a one-way flow, just like the impression left in the eyes of the first viewer.
思想的流动有两个阶段，首先汹涌，然后沉淀，呈现S形曲线：
first, spreading occurs along long and fast channels that cross the territory, and second, spreading is transversal to the channels, short and slow, from individual to individual.
the first mechanism is channel flow, or “invasion,” and the second is transversal diffusion, or “consolidation.”Good images travel, and if we question the features of the image, we discover the source.
而这种流动，居然和化工必学的Porous Diffusion Model - Darcy Flow有所关联
The tendency to have e lutionary designs unites plants with cars, rivers, and animals. All these designs have been evolving freely toward configurations that provide greater access and, in our era, have become “mature” because they are not changing much after their long evolution.
不过这里有点科学的历史终结论？All words have been said Better than Beatles
最后：
Time is change. Lifetime is a short movie of changes.
Perspective
我们视觉能够直接察觉的是二维世界，通过透视察觉第三维，感受时间的第四维。透视的单词perspective结合了拉丁语的per (穿过)和specere (看)。而关于透视法的窍门，可以总结成“平行线交汇于一点”。通过透视法的处理，我们看到只用二维视觉推测物体真实的大小。
透视本身也有更加深刻的含义——我们看到的是更加广阔的空间。
Perspective is liberating. Perspective is good for the mind because it gives the impression of “space” that in reality cannot be accessed.
Art and Science
作者也给出了一些科研的建议。首先，科研是基于环境的，在阅读文献的时候要充分考虑时代背景。
All scientific research is autobiographical. It is about the mind, upbringing, languages, life, and times of the creative observer. The “autobiography” reaches a lot deeper than the opinion (choice, judgement) expressed by a scientist. One can change his opinion but not his flow of life.
- No theory is perfect and forever, not even boundary layer theory.
- It is legal and, indeed, desirable to question any accepted theory.
- Any theory is better than no theory at all.
- It is legal to propose a new theory or a new idea in place of any accepted theory.
- Lack of immediate acceptance of a new theory does not mean that the new theory is not better.
- It is crucial to persevere to prove the worth of a new theory.
还有对于我来说很重要的一点：
When you work on an idea for too long, stop. Start working on a new idea. Return to the first idea later. Kick more than one ball. This is a good way to slow down the mind time, as we will see in the next chapter.
Slowing Time
让我们回到疫情期间，还有疫情期间“放缓的时间”：
Slow time becomes fast time during every activity that repeats itself the same way many times.
Change is key. Change makes an impression. Change revs up the creative mind.
Change is how to slow down your mind time.
New experiences are the prescription for slowing the time and doing more with the time that you have.
Change is the source of the feeling that you live longer.
…but why care living longer
因为封闭对于中国学生，尤其是高中生，是常态。对于社畜来说日复一日才是常态，惊喜和新奇是少有的。这是我在大学的后期才发现的的事情。大学应该是体验新鲜事物的地方，而不是和高中一样把课本奉为圭臬，当然不是说我的大学体验陈腐无趣，我也有过很多新鲜的体验，不过我还是把有些东西看得很重。话虽如此，事到如今其实没有什么后悔的，我依旧感谢工科功底给我带来的各种可能性。只不过是我也学会了拥抱更多精彩。
Do not stick to the same routine, morning, noon, and night.
Do not fall victim to your own opinion, which is the predict- able, the routine, and the meat grinder of fast time.
But routine makes me feel safe and secure….
我记得初中的时候我和另外一个同学一起当课代表，她负责的是一些常规的收发作业的工作，而我被安排去做一些非常规的事情——学校节日安排环节设计等等，十年前的我手足无措，那个时候我非常羡慕同学的活具有预测性，而我则在老师办公室之间辗转。日常是好的，循规蹈矩很轻松，舒适区之所以被称作舒适区就是因为舒适，只不过是看是不是自己的选择。现在我慢慢探索自己的生活，去很多没有去过的地方，读新奇的书，吃没有吃过的餐厅，这些对于我来说意义匪浅。和自己约会，善待自己，可能是我学到最好的一课。
Metaphors, like humor and analogies, empower the mind to connect the new impression with previous impressions that are correct and tested through experience. When we speak of “inspiration,” we mean the intangible act of acquiring an idea from somebody else.
You don’t have to be rich to treat yourself to something new. You must work at it.
Look in your immediate region, drive one or two hours, and treat yourself to more “slow time.”
Immortality does not come from having a single success. The immortal is the opposite of the “one-hit wonder.”
The monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.
Resilience
复原力的概念在这里又被提到。
To have resilience is to constantly make the effort to not fall out of shape, so that you have nothing to regain.
最后摘几句喜欢的话：
Remember, each of you is one point in space. You are one point of view, your point. One point may not seem like much; yet, you are the only one who resides in it, and no one is qualified to displace you.
Constructal Theory of Social Dynamics (2007)
构形理论
Jean-Christophe Denaes撰写的Life and Cognition这一章
构形理论是一个从热力学第一和第二定律衍生而来的普适规律，其定义是：
For a finite size flow system to persist in time (to survive) its configuration must evolve in such a way that it provides easier and easier access to the currents that flow through it.
一个有限的流动系统会朝着更接近流动的方向进化。
从人口地理学的角度特别好理解：城镇总是在河流的两岸发展，而没有河流的荒地则不容易产生文明。从热力学系统的角度也可以想象，流动带来的是混合，是动量，是熵，是所有事物发展的终极方向。所以：
One cannot count on having the freedom to morph in peace (undisturbed).
“构形（contruct）”在词源上和tools同源，表示一种发展和进化的手段，因此得名。除了上述的人口地理学，本书还有其他的角度来解释构形理论，我对最后两章写语言学和哲学的比较感兴趣，在下面展开讨论一下。
语言的构形理论
语言的发展有一个特点——自然。如果说国家政体和历史进程会受到英雄人物和革命事件的影响，语言的发展则是无法人为干预的，因为语言必须在群体中使用，而个人的力量非常有限。当然也可以反驳莎士比亚的戏剧大大拓宽的英语的常用词汇，但是这种转折并不是突兀而陡峭、而是厚积薄发的。
本书第16章通过分析古埃及象形文字（hieroglyphics）、苏美尔楔形文字（Cuneiform）和汉语三个语言来应用构形理论。这三门古老语言起初都是以图像形式传递信息，但是因为效率的低下，所以产生了相应的构形——字素（grapheme）。字素凝练了信息，使得信息的传递更加方便。
字素的形成分为不同的层次。在第一层里，是古埃及语的字素有五种类型：unilateral、bilateral、trilateral、ideograms和determinatives，前三个属于表音，ideograms表意，determinatives辅助。于是古埃及语的字数从17,000个减少到了700个字素，从象形文字到了僧侣体（hieratic）。苏美尔楔形文字也相应地减少到了800~900个，汉语则是把图案简化抽象成了笔画。
在第二层里，语音起到了重要的作用，尤其是在古代，听和说是学习语言的主要途径，文盲比比皆是，所以和语音的联系指导了语言进化的方向。古埃及语从僧侣体到了世俗体（demotic）和借鉴希腊字母创造的科普特体（coptic）。中文则是通过偏旁部首（radical）的方式浓缩意义，还有现代的拼音表音。作者这里对于中文的理解还有欠缺，可能不太了解反切表音和形声字，而注音符号和汉语拼音都只是现代的尝试。
哲学的构形理论
Life and Cognition by Jean-Christophe Denaës
本文首先从心灵（psyche）和亚里士多德的形式质料理论（Hylemorphism）开始，然后到自然认知的解读，前者在更高的层次，对应形而上学的生机论（vitalism），且是唯物生机论（materialist vitalism）。与构形理论相对应，这里的流动系统则是生机。一个例子是古埃及的Ka，让全部生物焕发生机的流体。如何理解灵魂的认知？作者的解释是：
the inclination to perceive reality in a discrete way, therefore to conceive it in the same way, and the feeling of continuity, of duration.
形式质料论理强调了任何事物都是物质组成的。可以参考Gilbert Simondon对此的讨论：事物的的诞生需要个性化（individuation）以区别于他物。
Forms are not inside substance. They are not given but generated (produced) by preindividual matter. Even a construction, made by man or animal, is constrained by the nature of the material.
Bergson把形式质料称为“自然智慧（natural intelligence）”。自然智慧的生成需要两个步骤：数据测量和逻辑认知。这两者的结合也是Castoriadis称为 ensidic （the ensemblistic-identitary perception of the intentional being）的东西。ensidic和形式质料的关系是：
These two intertwined capacities, the hylerealism and the ensidic, are goal oriented toward the action. A better action, for intentional beings, is homolog to a better flowing for non-intentional beings.
在个性的分化道路上存在不稳定的阶段，即是构形理论的流动系统，是一种亚稳定的状态。
too much discipline is poison to the individual’s innate creativity,” but use trickery with it. In a way, one must overflow it, putting it in a metastable state where the intuition’s becoming can take place, allowing the possible production of an act of serendipity.
维特根斯坦说，逻辑不是理论，而是现实世界的反映。霍布斯说过，普适的规律不能从经验总结（经验的不完备性）。
It reminds us that if one needs an infinite number of atoms to describe Reality, one also needs an infinite number of gaps that is an abyss. In the end, because Reality cannot be explained by an abyssal gap, one has to agree that this is a virtual hylereality. We intentional beings journey across the native land of our psyche, and its name is Hylereal.
Castoriadis认为亚里士多德的hyle即是混乱，于是混乱本身也成为了连续的无形的首要构成。他也用了void这个词来描述这种混乱，和埃及与里的Kaos或者Ka等价。
..because hyle is primal matter, one can say that chaos is in fact the deterministic, continuous, and formless primal matter
文章后面还延申了很多问题，就不展开了。这是一篇非常深刻难读的文章，但是意义非凡，因为前面的文章包括语言学都是社科范围，而这是本书唯一一篇把构形理论运用在人文领域的，甚至是常常与科学相悖的古典自然哲学。
The Physics of Life: The Evolution of Everything (2016)
240130
从构形理论出发，分析了技术、体育、城市规划、生物进化、政治、时间和寿命，可见热力学辐射范围之广。作为通俗的科普文学来说可圈可点。
进化
what is life, as physics? Why do life, death and evolution happen?
这里用的例子是GDP和能源消耗之间的线性关系。
进化的终点是什么？作者的观点是达到动态平衡，但是Equilibrium is death? 如果放在语言学里，死隐喻是一种嵌入，而不是一种平衡。这种表达需要格外小心。
thermodynamic definition of the dead state is well-established. It is the condition—the being—of a system (an amount of material, or a region in space) that is in complete equilibrium with its environment.
The live-state system is not in equilibrium with its environment
财富
作者认为对于流动系统来说，层级是必须的。
Diversity and hierarchy are necessary features of this natural flow organization
Any flow system is destined to remain imperfect, and yet it constantly morphs to flow better and more easily as a whole.
Life is movement. Everything needs to be kept alive by flowing, from rivers to walking and running, and to physical dexterity and reflex.the distribution of economic activity is hierarchical and in agreement with the hierarchy of the actual flow of people and goods and the flow of knowledge (the flow of communications) on the globe.
Hierarchy is good for the evolution and persistence of life.
Businesses and the rule of law in general are no different than the channels built for human life
大城市只会“榨取”周边城市来发达，帝国主义也是通过吸血殖民地来完成原始资本积累。因为阶层的存在，能源效率再高也只是一个工具，而不能达到天下大同。
Two indisputable facts stand out. The first is that fuel is being burned nonuniformly, and consequently the generated power is dissipated (consumed) nonuniformly in order to sustain our movement. The second fact is that the technology of power generation continues to evolve toward greater efficiencies
Jevons paradox which was the observation that the more efficient use of coal in the industrialized world in the 1800s actually increased the consumption of coal and other resources, instead of “saving” them.
A country is wealthy (developed, advanced) because it moves more material and people than do underdeveloped countries
这里又要提到边界问题。“跨层级流动才是真正的流动”这句话的前提是统一层级是均匀统一的，但是我们知道现实中没有真正的均匀，只能陷入一种无限划分。
Movement means penetration.
我们逐渐陷入混沌，陷入一种不确定的世界，而不确定性和复杂性并不是对应关系，作者持相反的观点：
It has become fashionable to assign names that sound scientific to phenomena that the speakers cannot understand and, even less, predict, such as complexity, turbulence, networks, chaos, allometry, etc.
Complexity is one of the ways in which we perceive and describe the observed object, and, as such, complexity is rooted in certainty, not uncertainty. Furthermore, the very fact that we observe and speak of the complexity of an object (and compare it with the complexity of another object) is an indication that the observed complexity is modest and manageable, not infinite and alarming.
科技
题外话，我觉得这里的科技才是真正意义上的科技。湾区的“科技”、“科技公司”意义太窄了。
几个关键词：阻力、减小体积，科技进步有代价
the organ is alive with currents that flow one-way by overcoming resistances, obstacles and all kinds of “friction.”
The discovery is that the future organ must not only be better in an evolutionary manner, but also smaller. This discovery is about the future, and the name for this future is miniaturization. This evolution is toward greater density of volumetric flow, or functionality. It is toward doing more with a smaller device, resulting in more flow per unit volume in that device.
No design, no movement is “for free.” This may come as a surprise to those who speak of free fall and free convection. Although invisible, the driver of free (natural) convection is present, and like all devices that drive fans, pumps and vehicles, it is a work-producing engine
(for airplane) the fuselage and the wing must have slender profiles that are geometrically similar: D⁄L ~ t⁄Lw ~ 1⁄10.
体育
之前读大卫·爱泼斯坦的《成长的边界》的时候对于体育科学有了更多了解。
The evolutionary direction is one-way because distinct groups of individuals (athletes) pursue the same goal: winning.
政治
选民其实也是一种流动实体。
A politician’s popularity grows by spreading over the landscape of voters, but the growth continues only as long as the package of ideas (the politician) is perceived as new
物理学家讲政治理论是不是太班门弄斧了？
it is crazy or, at best, far-fetched for a physicist to theorize about politics, what good policy is, and how it spreads. Well, think again, because what I sketched here in figure 8.1 is what happens every day with every idea that every scientist publishes. Immortality galore. The fame and longevity of the generator of ideas has the same origin (it is of the same nature) as the continued success and legacy of the good politician.
统计学的发展和现代选举脱不了关系。
Data are not knowledge. Data must not be confused with intelligence either
当然政治作为社会学科，其中也有科学无法预测的贪婪人性。
The better the player, the more frequently he gets fouled. The fallacy of the politics of envy,
The natural origin of hierarchy means two things that must not be overlooked. First, the large and the small are not adversaries. Second, the urge to organize is selfish. Everything coalesces—from raindrops to people—because all the moving entities move easier when they move together.
时间与知识
The time arrow of the phenomenon of irreversibility (the one-way direction of flow) is well known.
居然引用了朱熹，作者的确涉猎广泛了。格物致知是没错，物尽其用倒也对，但是功利色彩太重。
Knowledge is what you do with what you learn from the book. “Knowledge and action always require each other” (Zhu Xi).
Knowledge (news, science) flows from high to low. It flows from those who have it to those who wish to acquire it. When one end has nothing to offer as teachings to the other end, the flow stops. Old news does not travel.
寿命与死亡
What is death? Why should life end? When should it end?
modeling is empiricism, the opposite of theory. Models are not theory.
Life span is not about sitting around. It is about movement
On the way to predicting the life span of the animal we have to predict the length of the path they scribble on the world map and the air currents during their entire lives.
All the flows in nature fall in between: every flow is both jet and plume, more jet than plume, or more plume than jet.The predicted t ~ M^1⁄4 proportionality for life span completes the theoretical basis for approximate 1⁄4-power scaling observed in animal design
To be able to choose, one must have the freedom to change the existing configuration and then choose from the alternate configurations that emerge after the change.“The true and only goal of science is to reveal unity rather than mechanism.”
Henri Poincaré”
最后，能量可以流动， 经济可以流动，人文呢？记忆呢？这些处于人文的问题不能只用科学的眼光看，物理学需要收起狂妄的长臂，给人文的世界留下一点空间。
Freedom and Evolution 这本也是把前面的东西翻来覆去的讲。
话说这几本里面我最喜欢的是The Physics of Life的封面
Review: Evolution in thermodynamics (2017)
和前面提到的几本书内容差不多
Review: Purpose in Thermodynamics (2021)
这篇比较新，和前面提到的文章相比，多了Environmental Impact的部分，列举了environomics、thermoecology、exergoenvironmental的内容。