Chaisson argues that cosmic history can be examined from the perspective of energy flows.<ref name=twsSeife/><ref name=twsKauffman/> He analyzes the flows of energy through various objects and argues that these flows are relevant to understanding the relative complexity of these objects.<ref name=twsSeife/> He suggests that a key measure for scientific analysis should be energy per second per gram, termed “[[energy rate density]],” and that analysis using this yardstick can be used to explain not only human evolution but cosmic evolution.<ref name=twsKauffman/> He sees energy as “work per unit time” which he equates with [[Power (physics)|power]], and shows how energy rate density in some structures has increased over time.<ref name=twsKauffman>Stuart Kauffman, June 30, 2010, NPR, [https://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2010/06/30/128212122/why-is-the-universe-complex-broken-symmetries-information-energy-work Why Is The Universe Complex? Broken Symmetries, Information, Energy, Work], Retrieved Sept. 1, 2014, “…Eric Chaisson’s Cosmic Evolution is a wonderful discussion … well supported … energy density per gram universe per second has increased over the course of cosmic, biological and cultural evolution…</ref> For example, in Chaisson’s view, the [[human brain]] uses a much greater amount of energy, relative to its size, than a [[galaxy]].<ref name=twsBraude>Hillel Braude, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Volume 45, Number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 307-309, 10.1353/pbm.2002.0021, [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/pbm/summary/v045/45.2braude.html Cosmic Evolution: The Rise of Complexity in Nature (review)], Retrieved Sept. 1, 2014, review of The Rise of Complexity in Nature. By Eric J. Chaisson. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 2001. Pp. xii + 274….”Cosmic Evolution draws from a rich scientific palette to paint a colorful explanatory model of the ascending complexity in nature … analysis of energy flows therefore provides the opportunity to map the evolution in complexity of the cosmos….”</ref> He suggests that energy lets us make “order out of disorder”; for example, an air conditioner, which draws current from an electric outlet, can turn a less-complex zone of lukewarm air into two more-complex zones of hot air and cold air, and in so doing, it reverses the disorder in a room.<ref name=twsSeife>Charles Seife (book reviewer), Spring 2001, Wilson Quarterly, [http://archive.wilsonquarterly.com/book-reviews/cosmic-evolution-rise-complexity-in-nature COSMIC EVOLUTION: The Rise of Complexity in Nature], Retrieved Sept. 1, 2014, By Eric Chaisson. Harvard Univ. Press. 274 pp., “…Harvard University astrophysicist Chaisson … Energy lets us make order out of disorder. … defines life … ”open, coherent, space-time structure maintained far from thermodynamic equilibrium by a flow of energy through it”….problem with such a broad definition of life is that it becomes meaningless…</ref> According to his view, organisms do much the same thing with energy but in a more complex way, by taking in food instead of electrons, to keep themselves from disintegrating and becoming less complex; he analyzes energy flows in not just organisms and society but in inanimate structures such as stars, galaxies, planets.<ref name=twsSeife/>
Chaisson argues that cosmic history can be examined from the perspective of energy flows.<ref name=twsSeife/><ref name=twsKauffman/> He analyzes the flows of energy through various objects and argues that these flows are relevant to understanding the relative complexity of these objects.<ref name=twsSeife/> He suggests that a key measure for scientific analysis should be energy per second per gram, termed “[[energy rate density]],” and that analysis using this yardstick can be used to explain not only human evolution but cosmic evolution.<ref name=twsKauffman/> He sees energy as “work per unit time” which he equates with [[Power (physics)|power]], and shows how energy rate density in some structures has increased over time.<ref name=twsKauffman>Stuart Kauffman, June 30, 2010, NPR, [https://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2010/06/30/128212122/why-is-the-universe-complex-broken-symmetries-information-energy-work Why Is The Universe Complex? Broken Symmetries, Information, Energy, Work], Retrieved Sept. 1, 2014, “…Eric Chaisson’s Cosmic Evolution is a wonderful discussion … well supported … energy density per gram universe per second has increased over the course of cosmic, biological and cultural evolution…</ref> For example, in Chaisson’s view, the [[human brain]] uses a much greater amount of energy, relative to its size, than a [[galaxy]].<ref name=twsBraude>Hillel Braude, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Volume 45, Number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 307-309, 10.1353/pbm.2002.0021, [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/pbm/summary/v045/45.2braude.html Cosmic Evolution: The Rise of Complexity in Nature (review)], Retrieved Sept. 1, 2014, review of The Rise of Complexity in Nature. By Eric J. Chaisson. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 2001. Pp. xii + 274….”Cosmic Evolution draws from a rich scientific palette to paint a colorful explanatory model of the ascending complexity in nature … analysis of energy flows therefore provides the opportunity to map the evolution in complexity of the cosmos….”</ref> He suggests that energy lets us make “order out of disorder”; for example, an air conditioner, which draws current from an electric outlet, can turn a less-complex zone of lukewarm air into two more-complex zones of hot air and cold air, and in so doing, it reverses the disorder in a room.<ref name=twsSeife>Charles Seife (book reviewer), Spring 2001, Wilson Quarterly, [http://archive.wilsonquarterly.com/book-reviews/cosmic-evolution-rise-complexity-in-nature COSMIC EVOLUTION: The Rise of Complexity in Nature], Retrieved Sept. 1, 2014, By Eric Chaisson. Harvard Univ. Press. 274 pp., “…Harvard University astrophysicist Chaisson … Energy lets us make order out of disorder. … defines life … ”open, coherent, space-time structure maintained far from thermodynamic equilibrium by a flow of energy through it”….problem with such a broad definition of life is that it becomes meaningless…</ref> According to his view, organisms do much the same thing with energy but in a more complex way, by taking in food instead of electrons, to keep themselves from disintegrating and becoming less complex; he analyzes energy flows in not just organisms and society but in inanimate structures such as stars, galaxies, planets.<ref name=twsSeife/>
Chaisson notes that increases in [[complexity]] are consistent with the [[second law of thermodynamics]]; according to one reviewer, the second law might suggest that complexity should decrease with the universe “slouching toward disorder.”<ref name=twsSeife/><ref name=twsMcShea>Daniel W. McShea (book reviewer), November–December 2001, Volume 89, Number 6, Page: 1, American Scientist, [http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/measuring-complexity Measuring Complexity], Retrieved Sept. 1, 2014, “…a complex structure such as a galaxy, a star or an organism is an open system, able to generate and sustain complexity by exporting enough disorder to its surrounding environment to more than make up for its internal gains…”; ”Complexity and the Arrow of Time” Lineweaver et al. (eds.) Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013 (review), ”Science”, vol. 342, pg 1319, 2013, “Only two other trends on the scale of life’s history have been documented quantitatively—those in body size and in hierarchy or nestedness (prokaryotic cell, multicellular individual, colony). Energy rate density is a fine candidate for a third.”</ref> However, Chaisson argues that complexity can increase because complex structures such as a star can “generate and sustain complexity by exporting enough disorder to its surrounding environment to more than makeup for its internal gains.”<ref name=twsMcShea/> From this perspective, Chaisson offers a definition of life as an “open, coherent, space-time structure maintained far from thermodynamic equilibrium by a flow of energy through it.”<ref name=twsSeife/>
Chaisson notes that increases in [[complexity]] are consistent with the [[second law of thermodynamics]]; according to one reviewer, the second law might suggest that complexity should decrease with the universe “slouching toward disorder.”<ref name=twsSeife/><ref name=twsMcShea>Daniel W. McShea (book reviewer), November–December 2001, Volume 89, Number 6, Page: 1, American Scientist, [http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/measuring-complexity Measuring Complexity], Retrieved Sept. 1, 2014, “…a complex structure such as a galaxy, a star or an organism is an open system, able to generate and sustain complexity by exporting enough disorder to its surrounding environment to more than make up for its internal gains…”; ”Complexity and the Arrow of Time” Lineweaver et al. (eds.) Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013 (review), ”Science”, vol. 342, pg 1319, 2013, “Only two other trends on the scale of life’s history have been documented quantitatively—those in body size and in hierarchy or nestedness (prokaryotic cell, multicellular individual, colony). Energy rate density is a fine candidate for a third.”</ref> However, Chaisson argues that complexity can increase because complex structures such as a star can “generate and sustain complexity by exporting enough disorder to its surrounding environment to more than makeup for its internal gains.”<ref name=twsMcShea/> From this perspective, Chaisson offers a definition of life as an “open, coherent, space-time structure maintained far from thermodynamic equilibrium by a flow of energy through it.”<ref name=twsSeife/>
