- The Netherlands are featured in this MODIS, Terra image from July 17, 2006. The Netherlands, which means, literally ’low lands’ is very flat. About half its surface area is less than 1 meter above sea level, and large parts of it are below sea level! A system of dykes and dunes and water pumping stations protect these areas from flooding and keep the ground water level in check. Storms and human intervention have affected the coastline of the Netherlands for centuries, with land being both created, and claimed by the sea.
- What is Entropy? (jasonfantl.com)
People say many things about entropy: entropy increases with time, entropy is disorder, entropy increases with energy, entropy determines the arrow of time, etc.. But I have no idea what entropy is, and from what I find, neither do most other people. This is the introduction I wish I had when first told about entropy, so hopefully you find it helpful. My goal is that by the end of this long post we will have a rigorous and intuitive understanding of those statements, and in particular, why the universe looks different when moving forward through time versus when traveling backward through time.
