Skip to main content
Dictionary
Store
Blog
World
Help
Advertise
Chat
System Status
Information Collection Notice
Trademark Concerns
reCAPTCHA Privacy
Terms of Service
reCAPTCHA Terms
Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Report a Bug
Data Request
Contact Us
Security
DMCA
© 1999–2026 Urban Dictionary ®
Mugs
Tees
Hoodies
Pro Customization
Create unique products with your own words and definitions
Preview
Personalize Your Design
Your Word
Your Definition
A framework that explains how living systems—organisms, ecosystems—maintain order and perform work while obeying thermodynamic laws, often appearing to violate them. Metabolical thermodynamics draws on Prigogine's work on dissipative structures: life is an open system that continuously exchanges energy and matter with its environment, exporting entropy to maintain internal order. Metabolism is the process of capturing energy (from sun or food) and using it to build structures, drive reactions, and reproduce. This framework shows that life doesn't break the second law; it uses it: local order is created at the expense of global entropy increase. Metabolical thermodynamics unites biology and physics, showing that life is a thermodynamic imperative, not an exception.
Text fits
Save
Cancel