In science, ecological economics is the study of economic systems confined by ecological awareness, constraints, and scarcities. The subject of “ecological economics” is often found intertwined with thermodynamics logic; in the sense of being syncretism of ecological thermodynamics and economic thermodynamics. [1] The use and understanding of thermodynamics in this field, however, is often found way out of context, e.g. citing the first law of thermodynamics as the "law of conservation of energy-mass", such postulates having been introduced in the 1970s via incorrect arguments, particularly by Romanian mathematician Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen. [2]

History
Japanese economist Kozo Mayumi argues that the field of ecological economics originated in the 1970s work of Romanian mathematician Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (1971, 76). [3] Others site American economist Herman Daly, a student of Georgescu-Roegen, as an originator in the field. [4] It is also argued that, in addition to Georgescu-Roegen, English economist Kenneth Boulding (1975, 78) was also a pioneer in the field, having also introduced the concept of entropy in ecological economics, particularly on the subject of waste material management. [5]

References
1. Baumgärtner, Stefan. (2003). Entropy. Internet Encyclopaedia of Ecological Economics, Feb.
2. Costanza, Robert and Wainger, Lisa. (1991). Ecological Economics: the Science and Management of Sustainability (keywords: thermodynamics, entropy). Columbia University Press.
3. Mayumi, Kozo. (2001). The Origins of Ecological Economics: The Bioeconomics of Georgescu-Roegen. London: Routledge.
4. Daly, Herman E. and Farley, Joshua. (2004). Ecological Economics: Principles and Applications (keywords: thermodynamics, entropy). Island Press.
5. Mayumi, Kozo and Giampietro, Mario. (2004). Ch. 5: “Entropy in Ecological Economics” (pgs. 80-101) in Modelling in Ecological Economics by John Proops and Paul Safonov. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Further reading
● Sollner, Fritz. (1997). “A Reexamination of the Role of Thermodynamics for Environmental Economics (abstract).” Ecological Economics, Vol. 22, Issue 3, Sept. pgs. 175-201.
● Costanza, Robert. (1997). An Introduction to Ecological Economics (thermodynamics, 13+ pages). CRC Press.
● Rees, William E. (2003). (ch. 8: Understanding Urban Ecosystems: an Ecological Economics Perspective, pgs. 115-36; Section: Ecological Economics and the Second Law, pgs. 120-, etc.). In Understanding Urban Ecosystems: A New Frontier for Science and Education by Alan R. Berkowitz, Charles H. Nilon, Karen S. Hollweg, Springer.

External links
● Ecological economics – Wikipedia.