In anthropological thermodynamics, Richard Newbold Adams (1924-) is an American sociologist and anthropologist noted for his 1975 book Energy and Structure: a Theory of Social Power, in which he argues that the social power and anthropological studies of energy processes are based on the first and second law of thermodynamics. [1] In short, Adams argues that social power is based on control over energetic processes. [2]

In this work, Adams cites individuals and topics such as: Claude Levi-Strauss, dissipative systems, Erwin Schrodinger, Alfred Lotka, energy forms, embodied energy, maximum power principle, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, Howard Odum, Leslie White, Maxwell’s demon, negative entropy, among others.

In his 1987 book The Eighth Day: Social Evolution as the Self-Organization of Energy, Adams argues that energy processes provide a basis for explaining, comparing, and measuring complex social evolution, wherein society is conceived as a self-organization of energy. [3]

References
1. Adams, Richard N. (1975). Energy and Structure: a Theory of Social Power (thermodynamics, pgs 109, 120, 125). University of Texas Press.
2. Hornborg, Alf. (2001). The Power of the Machine: and Global Inequalities of Economy, Technology, and Environment (R.N. Adams, pgs. 38, 41-43, 96, etc.). AltaMira Press.
3. Adams, Richard N. (1987). The Eighth Day: Social Evolution as the Self-Organization of Energy. University of Texas Press.

External links
● Adams, Richard Newbold (1924-) – WorldCat Identities.