Two days after my last paper, and I got quite alot of things done. Last night, Mark and I went down to TheatreWorks to watch Arcadia again. The ticket was still $20 for students, so it was a good deal. Both of us agreed that it was a great experience, we were telling each other how much more we understood about the play while watching it the second time. There were so many moments of "Oh....thats why they said that...and did that...blar blar blar" The first 10 minutes were especially enlightening for me because we missed it the first time. At least, now, I understand what the carnal embrace was all about, and why Thomasina was so interested in it.
Another interesting thing was spotting the difference between the preview and the one we were watching. There were only minor changes, change in tone, gestures etc... But it understanding the storyline really helped us enjoy the play. The first time I watched the play, I knew it was good, but didn't really get the whole picture, the whole story. But after last night, while Mark and I were walking back, it was great. We actually could have a full conversation about who did what, and why things happened. There were alot more underlying themes which the playwright was conveying in the play, and the second time helped a great deal.
There are a few things I want to point out from the play which was inaccurate from what i know. Well, since I am a science major, I spotted some incorrect reference to the laws and terms used in the play. So here goes:
Zeroth law of thermodynamics
Remember when Thomasina wrote about how heat transfer in the steam engine limits the final production of power to the steam engine? And she proposed that the world was coming to a very bitter cold end because everything was going to cool down to room temperature?
Well, first of all, the brochure for arcadia says that she 'discovered' the 2nd law of thermodynamics. I know she didnt discover it, but the law that she actually 'discovered' was the Zeroth law of thermodynamics, not the 2nd. The 2nd has to do with enthropy, which is tendency of everything becoming more chaotic and less organised. From what i know, the first three laws of thermodynamics were established before scientists decide to put in the law of heat transfer. Although the law is a simple concept of heat transfer from a hotter to a colder object, it is the fundamental basis for thermodynamics. Thus, after running out of number from 1 to 3, they decided to call it the Zeroth law. It is like learning the importance of walking after you learn how to fly.
Recursive Algorithm
When Valentine was talking about the iterative process of Thomasina's mathematical equation. How each equation uses the value derived from the previous evaluation of the equation? Well, the process which he was decribing was not an iterative algorithm, it was a recursive algorithm. In computing programming, there are basically 2 different kinds of loops, one is iterative, and the other is recursive.
Well, I hope i am right about pointing out some of the flaws in the scientific terms that were used in the play. But there were many other interesting scientific facts that sparked my interest. Black holes. Maybe will write about it another time.
Last of all, just want to tell you guys that what the law of thermodynamics is true, and that everything will eventually cool down, not to room temperature, but to absolute zero, 0 K, which is -273.15C. But dont worry, the time it takes for everything to cool to that temperature, we will be long gone, and whether the universe is expanding or contracting, the next cycle shoudl have started before it happens. So, relax and enjoy your summer and dont go around kissing strangers because you think the world is coming to an end.
