In the Beginning was Information
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principle. A law of nature need not necessarily be represented byquantitative values. The description of an observation in qualitativeand verbal terms suffices, if <strong>the</strong> observation is generally valid, i. e.can be reproduced as often as you like. It is only important toremember that laws of nature know no exceptions. These aspectsshould be made clearer in <strong>the</strong> following examples:a) Rotary direction of a whirlpool: <strong>In</strong> <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn hemisphere of<strong>the</strong> earth, <strong>the</strong> whirlpool caused by water flowing out of a receptaclerotates in an anticlockwise direction, in <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn hemispherein a clockwise direction. If this test should be carried outon o<strong>the</strong>r planets a connection between <strong>the</strong> sense of rotation of<strong>the</strong> planet and <strong>the</strong> location of <strong>the</strong> test site above or below <strong>the</strong>equator could be established as well.b) The Right Hand Rule: According to <strong>the</strong> discovery made by <strong>the</strong>English physicist Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) in 1831, electricityis induced in a metal conductor if it is moved into a magneticfield. The direction of <strong>the</strong> electrical flow is described in<strong>the</strong> law of nature which <strong>the</strong> English physicist John AmbroseFleming (1849 – 1945) described by means of <strong>the</strong> “Right HandRule” in 1884: “If one creates a right angle with <strong>the</strong> first threefingers of <strong>the</strong> right hand, and <strong>the</strong> thumb indicates <strong>the</strong> directionin which <strong>the</strong> conductor is moving and <strong>the</strong> forefinger indicates<strong>the</strong> direction of <strong>the</strong> lines of force, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> middle finger indicates<strong>the</strong> direction of <strong>the</strong> flow of electricity.”c) The Pauli Principle: <strong>In</strong> 1925 <strong>the</strong> Austrian physicist and NobelPrize winner Wolfgang Pauli (1900 – 1958) put forward <strong>the</strong>principle which carries his name (<strong>the</strong> exclusion principle). Itmaintains, among o<strong>the</strong>r things, that only electrons which aredifferent from each o<strong>the</strong>r at least in one of <strong>the</strong> quantum numberscan be involved in forming atoms and molecules. That is, noidentical electrons can exist next to one ano<strong>the</strong>r. This principleis a law of nature which <strong>was</strong> not ma<strong>the</strong>matically formulated butwhich is of greatest importance for <strong>the</strong> understanding of <strong>the</strong>periodic table of elements.d) Le Chatelier’s Principle of Least Restraint: The principle formulatedin 1887 by <strong>the</strong> French chemist Henry-Louis de Chatelier(1850 – 1936) and <strong>the</strong> German Nobel Prize winner inPhysics (1909) Karl Ferdinand Braun (1850 – 1918) qualitativelydescribes <strong>the</strong> dependence of <strong>the</strong> chemical equilibrium onexternal conditions. According to <strong>the</strong> principle, <strong>the</strong> equilibrium129