In the Beginning was Information

Conservation theorems: The following description applies to thisgroup of laws: A certain number, given in a suitable unit of measurement,can be computed at a specific moment. If this number isrecomputed later after many changes may have occurred in nature,its value is unchanged. The best-known law in this category is thelaw of the conservation of energy. This is the most abstract and themost difficult of all the conservation laws, but at the same time it isthe most useful one, since it is used most frequently. It is more difficultto understand than the laws about the conservation of mass(see footnote 5), of momentum, of rotational moment, or of electricalcharge. One reason is that energy can exist in very many differentforms, like kinetic energy, potential energy, heat, electricalenergy, chemical energy, and nuclear energy. In any given processthe involved energy can be divided amongst these forms in verymany different ways, and a number can then be computed for eachkind of energy. The conservation law now states that the sum of allthese numbers stays constant irrespective of all the conversionsthat took place during the time interval concerned. This sum isalways the same at any given moment. It is very surprising thatsuch a simple formulation holds for every physical or biologicalsystem, no matter how complex it may be.Equivalence theorems: Mass and energy can be seen to be equivalentin terms of Einstein’s famous formula E = m x c 2 . In the caseof atomic processes of energy conversion (nuclear energy) there isa small loss of mass (called the deficit) which releases an equivalentamount of energy according to Einstein’s formula.Directional theorems: From experience in this world we knowthat numerous events proceed in one sense only. A dropped cupwill break. The converse event, namely that the cup will put itselftogether and jump back into our hand, never happens, howeverlong we may wait. When a stone is thrown into a dam, concentricwaves move outwards on the surface of the water. This process canbe described mathematically, and the resulting equations are equallyvalid for outward moving waves and for the imaginary case ifsmall waves should start from the edge and move concentricallyinwards, becoming larger as they do so. This converse process hasnever been observed, although the first event can be repeated asoften as we like.37