Holey Terror: a narrative approach to the Second Law of Thermodynamics
Christine Roberts & Hywel Evans
Christine Roberts is a playwright and Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Performance; Dr Hywel Evans is Reader in Analytical Chemistry. Both teach at the University of Plymouth. They have collaborated on writing a piece of drama based around the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Their play Holey Terror addresses topical issues and uses the Second Law as a metaphor for our times. It has been written for the mediums of stage and radio. A reading of the play, by undergraduate students in theatre and performance, will be followed by a discussion about the play and the scope for including more narrative science in the curriculum of arts, humanities and science students.
Everyone likes a good story…
Narrative has a long and well established history as a method of learning. Everyone remembers the fairy tales that they read when they were children - as adults we realise that these were not just stories designed to frighten us but carried important messages about behaviour and social responsibility: lying and stealing are wrong and lead to dire consequences; don’t go into the woods alone because there are wolves and dangerous adults about.
The strength of the narrative method of learning is that it creates a powerful association between a concept and some visual or emotional response, embedding the concept so that it is easily retrieved. The use of narrative in secondary and higher education is common in the social sciences and humanities
In science we concentrate on the accumulation of factual information and its applicability to specific problems, but many people (including science students) have extreme difficulty grasping scientific concepts, so perhaps they would benefit from a narrative approach to learning?
If narrative structures can create powerful associations with difficult concepts, perhaps it will make the learning experience more enjoyable and holistic.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is possibly the most fundamental law of Chemistry because, together with the First and Third Laws, it describes how chemical and physical processes are controlled:
The Scientist would say:
Some things happen naturally; some things don’t. A gas expands to fill the available volume, a hot body cools to the temperature of it’s surroundings, and a chemical reaction runs in one direction rather than another. Some aspect of the world determines the spontaneous direction of change.
...spontaneous changes are always accompanied by a dispersal of energy into a more disordered form.
…entropy (is) …a measure of the molecular disorder of a system (and) the entropy of an isolated system increases in the course of a spontaneous change.
Atkins & de Paula
‘Physical Chemistry’
The Writer would say:
Enter ‘The End of Time’, a decaying far, far future society, a time when anything and everything is possible, where words like 'conscience' and 'morality' are meaningless, …where entropy is king and the universe has begun collapsing upon itself. The inhabitants of this era are immortal, decadent and amoral, creating flights of fancy using energy devised and stored by their ancestors millions of years ago.
Michael Moorcock
‘The Dancers at the End of Time’
Holey Terror
One of the key aspects of the project was to challenge prejudices and attitudes from both sides about science and the arts. The collaboration mirrored what both of us were hoping to achieve through this combination. We have learned a considerable amount about each other’s discipline and in that collaboration increased both our understanding and interest in the other’s area of expertise. It is hoped that this process will be experienced by you, the audience, when presented with the play, and through its unfolding narrative come to realise that you are encountering one of the most important laws of science.
Our play Holey Terror combines science and theatre as product, but equally as important, it addresses topical issues and uses the Second Law as a metaphor for our times.
A version of Holey Terror has been submitted to the Hidden City Project for consideration
Contacts
Resources
www.research.plymouth.ac.uk/sea/oldsite/sciart.htm