# Thomas Wallace

In existographies, Thomas Wallace (20- BE) (1935- ACM) (FET:57) (SNE:3) (SPE:37|66AE) (CR:84) (LH:3) (TL:87|#126) is an American physical chemist, philosopher, and former college president, noted for []

## Overview

Wallace's 2009 reaction coordinate diagram.

In 2009, Wallace, in his "The Fundamentals of Thermodynamics Applied to Socioeconomics", an appendix to his Wealth, Energy, and Human Values, gives the following reaction coordinate diagram, with which he uses to explain how societies go though transformations from initial states to final states, defined by an initial energy and final energy:

Wallace explains that the energy defining the state of the system of any given society is the Gibbs energy ΔG, which he defines as:

${\displaystyle \Delta G=\Delta H-T\Delta S}$

wherein ΔH is the change in the enthalpy, T is the temperature, and ΔS is the change in the entropy, respectively, of the system of the given socieity. Wallace summarizes things as follows:

“The thermodynamic parameter free energy represents the fundamental driving force in nature and determines whether physical and chemical processes conducted by nature and society will take place.”
— Thomas Wallace (2009), Wealth, Energy, and Human Values (pg. 483)

### Mother nature?

Of salient note, much of Wallace's discussion of "nature", in respect to society and thermodynamics, is done using the term "mother nature". It is difficult to say what exactly he intends to mean by this term, in respect to theism or atheism?

## Quotes

### Quotes | By

The following are quotes:

“Thermodynamics principles and energy considerations control all processes conducted by nature and society, i.e. determine the potential process spontaneity and directionality.”
— Thomas Wallace (2009), Wealth, Energy, and Human Values (pg. #) [1]

## End matter

### References

1. Wallace, Thomas P. (2009). Wealth, Energy, and Human Values: the Dynamics of Decaying Civilizations from Ancient Greece to America (Appendix A: The Fundamentals of Thermodynamics Applied to Socioeconomics, pgs. 469-89; quote, pg. #). AuthorHouse.