There are two basic forces at work in the physical universe, according to my high school chemistry textbook. The first is enthalpy, defined as "the sum of the internal energy of the system plus the system's volume multiplied by the pressure exerted by the system on its surroundings." The other is entropy, defined (quite appropriately, vaguely and variously) as "a quantitative measure of the amount of thermal energy not available to do work; a measure of the disorder or randomness in a closed system; a measure of the loss of information in a transmitted message; the tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity; inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or society."
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