In human thermodynamics, John Scales Avery, (1933-) is a Lebanese-born Danish theoretical chemist noted for the publication of his 2003 book Information Theory and Evolution, in which it is argued that the phenomenon of life, including it origin and evolution (cultural evolution included), is founded on the background of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and information theory. In order to explain the seeming contradiction between the second law of thermodynamics, i.e. that closed ideal gas phase systems tend towards disorder, and the high degree of order and complexity produced by living systems, Avery argues that this paradox has its resolution in the information content of the Gibbs free energy that enters the biosphere from outside sources. [1]

Education
In 1950, Avery graduated from Phillips Academy, in Andover, Mass.; in 1954 he completed his B.Sc., physics, at M.I.T; in 1955 he completed his M.Sc. in physics at the University of Chicago; and in 1965 finished his PhD in theoretical chemistry at the Imperial College, London.

References
1. Avery, John (2003). Information Theory and Evolution. New Jersey: World Scientific.

External links

Biography - Overview

John Avery – faculty page, University of Copenhagen

John Avery List Publications - Danish Peace Academy