Abstract
IT has been suggested that a statistical distribution of entropy among a large number of entities will lead to a small percentage of them possessing a lower entropy than the mean value for the group as a whole1. To illustrate this point Campbell considered the example of the codfish laying a million eggs. This, however, is not a representative example of the entire biological world, for birds and mammals produce a very small number of eggs and the higher mammals produce only one egg at a time. Furthermore, if such a statistical distribution of entropy were possible in the biological world, a similar statistical distribution should also exist in non-living systems; and for every spontaneous reaction, a small number of products with decreased entropy should result. This is contrary to all known facts.
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References
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VISWANADHAM, C. Entropy, Evolution and Living Systems. Nature 219, 653 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/219653b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/219653b0
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