Premium
SUDDEN CHANGE IN THE WORLD
Author(s) -
Oxtoby David W.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
zygon®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-9744
pISSN - 0591-2385
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9744.1994.tb00690.x
Subject(s) - randomness , nucleation , discontinuity (linguistics) , phase change , statistical physics , event (particle physics) , crystallization , action (physics) , theoretical physics , epistemology , physics , mathematics , philosophy , thermodynamics , quantum mechanics , statistics , mathematical analysis
. The suddenness of phase change is examined as an example of a discontinuity in nature, in which an apparently random microscopic event can trigger a macroscopic change of state such as the crystallization of a liquid. Recent advances in nucleation theory that have helped to quantify but not eliminate this randomness are described, and analogies with the modes of God's action in the world are explored.