The second law of thermodynamics suggests a progression from order to disorder, from complexity to simplicity, in the physical universe. Yet biological evolution involves a hierarchical progression to increasingly complex forms of living systems, seemingly in contradiction to the second law of thermodynamics.
There is no contradiction.
The burning of gasoline, converting energy "rich" compounds (hydrocarbons) into energy "lean" compounds, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H20), is a second illustration of this principle.
Excellent! Let's use glucose, CO2 and H2O is our talk.
The second law of thermodynamics says that the entropy of the universe (or any isolated system therein) is increasing; i.e., the energy of the universe is becoming more uniformly distributed
Excellent!
An open system is one which exchanges both energy and mass with the surroundings.
Great! Sounds like the Earth, or a plant.
In living plants, the energy flow through the system is supplied principally by solar radiation. In fact, leaves provide relatively large surface areas per unit volume for most plants, allowing them to "capture" the necessary solar energy to maintain themselves far from equilibrium. This solar energy is converted into the necessary useful work (negative Se in equation 7-11) to maintain the plant in its complex, high-energy configuration by a complicated process called photosynthesis. Mass, such as water and carbon dioxide, also flows through plants, providing necessary raw materials, but not energy. In collecting and storing useful energy, plants serve the entire biological world.
Holy crap! He just refuted your original claim.
I see no problem with this from the evolutionary side of the argument.
So why is your original claim correct and your source incorrect?
While the maintenance of living systems is easily rationalized in terms of thermodynamics
Check it out, he's calling you irrational!
