Physical significance of entropy or of the second law

In the Introduction to this article we called attention to the two distinct modes of attacking any physical problem. Now the conception “state of a body” varies with the chosen mode of attack. Of course as both modes are legitimate and lead to correct results, these differences in the conception of “state” can be reconciled and a broader definition reached. We can illustrate these different methods of approach, as PLANCK has done, by assuming two different observers of the state of the body, one called the microscopic-observer and the other the macroscopic-observer. The former possesses senses so acute and powers so great that he can recognize each individual atom and can measure its motion. For this observer each atom will move exactly according to the elementary laws prescribed for it by General Dynamics.