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How Did We Get Here? The Tangled History of the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Stephen Wolfram

Already the steam-engine works our mines, impels our ships, excavates our ports and our rivers, forges iron, fashions wood, grinds grain, spins and weaves our cloths, transports the heaviest burdens, etc. It appears that it must some day serve as a universal motor, and be substituted for animal power, water-falls, and air currents.

Energy 88
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The Concept of the Ruliad

Stephen Wolfram

And we can trace the argument for this to the Principle of Computational Equivalence. But it’s a fundamental claim that we’re making—that can be thought of as a matter of natural science—that in our universe only computation can occur, not hypercomputation. A very important claim about the ruliad is that it’s unique.

Physics 116
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A 50-Year Quest: My Personal Journey with the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Stephen Wolfram

In early 1984 I visited MIT to use the machine to try to do what amounted to natural science, systematically studying 2D cellular automata. I think Yves Pomeau already had a theoretical argument for this, but as far as I was concerned, it was (at least at first) just a “next thing to try”.

Physics 94