The importance of thermodynamics, particularly its Second Principle, to all branches of science in which systems with very large numbers of particles are involved cannot be overstated. This book offers a panoramic view of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Perhaps the two most attractive aspects of thermodynamic equilibrium are its stability and its independence from the specifics of the particular system involved. Does an equivalent exist for non-equilibrium thermodynamics? Many researchers have tried to describe such stability in the same way that the Second Principle describes the stability...