“Modern science has not only widened and deepened our knowledge of reality and the vastness of the mutability of the cosmos; it likewise provides us with valuable indication on the direction taken by the processes of nature. As late as a hundred years ago, especially after the discovery of the law of the conservation of energy, it was thought that natural processes were reversible. Consequently, in conformity with the principles of strict causality, or rather the determination, of nature, an ever-recurring renovation and rejuvenation of the cosmos was regarded as possible. Through the law of entropy, however, discovered by Rudolf Clausius, it was recognized that the spontaneous processes of nature are always accompanied by a diminution of free and utilizable energy. In a closed material system this conclusion must lead, eventually, to the cessation of processes on a macroscopic scale. This unavoidable fate, from which only hypotheses—sometimes unduly gratuitous—such as that of continued supplementary creation, have endeavored to save the universe, but which instead stands out clearly from positive scientific experience, postulates eloquently the existence of a necessary being.”