Discusses the relationship between energy, chance and chaos, and how scientists' understanding of them has been critical in developing many technologies that are known and used today.
Preface; A few points about mathematics; 1. Steam engines and artillery; 2. Red blood and electric motors; 3. Steam engines revisited; 4. The second law of thermodynamics; 5. Maxwell's demon; 6. Chance and the distribution of energy; 7. Packets of energy; 8. Energy equals mc2; 9. Energy and the universe; 10. Chaos: the science of the unexpected; Suggested reading; Index