In existographies, Corrado Giannantoni (1950-) is an Italian nuclear engineer noted, in ecological thermodynamics, for “thermodynamics of quality” theory, first outlined in his 2002 book The Maximum Em-Power Principle as the Basis for Thermodynamics of Quality, in which, building on the work Alfred Lotka and Howard T. Odum, he outlines a rather peculiar, nearly incohesive, and somewhat choppy brand of fourth law stylized thermodynamics, centered largely around the concepts of emergy and empower (of Odum) and to some extent exergy (of Zoran Rant).

Difficulties
A large number of difficulties exist in a read of any part Giannantoni's theory. The first and foremost, aside from the fact that Giannantoni's work is an extension of the Odum school, which itself is a school of thought way off the reservation of standard thermodynamics, is his uncouth and nearly unedited writing style: nearly three-fourths of his entire 2002 book, for example, is italicized, page-after-page, the result of which it is sore to the eyes to even flip through, let alone read cover to cover. Beyond this, the difficulties are nearly intractable, as far as presentation and mathematical content go, too many to list. The following book review summary by American public management professor Donald Adolphson, gives an overall idea that Giannantoni seems to be presenting a sort of overunity version of thermodynamics: [2]

“Thermodynamics of quality include other more subtle but important forms of energy, referred to as meta-mechanical forms of energy, that depend on quality of organization rather than quantity of matter. Giannantoni’s framework embraces the main conclusion of the traditional laws that the quantities of mechanical energy are decreasing due to losses incurred in energy transformations. However, his framework also shows that gains in meta-mechanical energy, through judicious choices of energy transformations, exceed losses in mechanical energy. To summarize, the traditional laws describe a universe that is necessarily decreasing in productive capacity while the new laws describe a universe that is potentially ever increasing in productive capacity.”


Giannantoni’s conception of the four principles of thermodynamics, from his “Thermodynamics of Quality and Society”, wherein he Zoran Rant (1955), and his exergy models, Alfred Lotka (1922), and Howard Odum (1955) as they new thermodynamics principles expanders. [3]

Giannantoni's principles of thermodynamics (2004)

Giannantoni’s conception of the four principles of thermodynamics, from his “Thermodynamics of Quality and Society”, wherein he Zoran Rant (1955), and his exergy models, Alfred Lotka (1922), and Howard Odum (1955) as they new thermodynamics principles expanders. [3]

Here we see what seems to be a prime example of someone lost in what Erwin Hiebert calls the "garden of thermodynamics" where "all kinds of private metaphysics and theology grow like weeds." A comparison to Giannantoni and his "quality thermodynamics" theory might be Ivan Kennedy and his "action thermodynamics" theory, both of which are far lost in the outer edges of the garden.

Fourth law | Dreams
In 2004, Giannantoni, in his “How Many ‘Fourth’ Principles Are There in Thermodynamics?” stated the following, as a way to parlay his work as the new fourth law of thermodynamics, a common phenomenon with newly-zealous scholars aiming at grand theories: [4]

“The paper considers four different proposals (found in Literature) concerning a possible fourth Thermodynamic Principle, namely: Onsager’s Reciprocal Relations (1931), Prigogine’s Excess Entropy Production (1971), Georgescu-Roegen’s Matter Entropy (1972) and Jorgensen’s Ecological Law of Thermodynamics (1992). Such Principles, when analyzed in the light of Odum’s Maximum Em-Power Principle (1994), appear as being four different reductive quantitative versions of the latter. Consequently, the Maximum Em-Power Principle can be considered as being not only a new Thermodynamic Principle (as already shown in (Giannantoni 2001, 2002)), but also the only candidate to be recognized as the real Fourth Thermodynamic Principle”

(add discussion)

Economics
Giannantoni has written a second book in Italian in 2007 and is currently in the early stages of his third book, which is an extension of his theories into economics.

Education
Giannantoni completed a nuclear engineering degree in 1977 at the La Sapienza University of Rome.

References
1. Giannantoni, Corrado. (2002). The Maximum Em-Power Principle as the Basis for Thermodynamics of Quality. Servizi Grafici Editoriali Publishers.
2. Adolphoson, Donald L. (c.2010). “Corrado Giannantoni: A Modern-Day Newton”, Book Review, Publication.
3. Giannantoni, Corrado. (2004). “Thermodynamics of Quality and Society” (pdf), In Ortega, E. & Ulgiati, S. (editors): Proceedings of IV Biennial International Workshop “Advances in Energy Studies”. Unicamp, Campinas, SP, Brazil. June 16-19, 2004. Pages 139-157.
4. Giannantoni, Corrado. (2004). “How Many ‘Fourth’ Principles Are There in Thermodynamics?” (pdf), in: Emergy Synthesis 3: Theory and Applications of the Emergy Methodology (editors: Mark Brown), Proceedings form the Third Biennial Emergy Conference, Gainesville, Florida. Publisher, 2005.

External links
● Corrado Giannantoni – Wikipedia.