Newton and Photosynthesis (Part 2)

Sir Isaac Newton developed three laws of motion. The first states that "objects at rest tend to stay at rest until acted upon by another force and objects in motion tend to stay in motion until acted upon by another force." The second law is not an issue I care to address at the time (and maybe never in this series), and the third states, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Now my question is: can these laws be applied to the principle of entropy? Normally these laws are applied to specific objects like a locomotive, an asteroid, or airplane. I make the argument that these laws can be applied to the principle of entropy because the state of the universe is moving from order to disorder. The universe is in motion and will tend to stay in motion until acted upon by another force.

Have you ever walked from a toasty-warm sidewalk on a hot summer day onto the cool grass? Has the dramatic difference in temperature ever stood out to you? Have you ever wondered why the temperature changed so much? Let me tell you why it is so much cooler on the grass than on the sidewalk. When the sun's rays hit a solid object that is energy, in the form of light waves, transferring to the solid object and effecting a change in the volume of energy stored in the atoms of the object. The energy is absorbed into the electrons whirling around the nucleus of the atom and it moves from one "shell" to the next higher "shell." With the electron in this excited state it becomes very unstable and, like water, seeks the lowest level. The atom "throws" this extra energy off in the form of heat and the electron is able to return to the energy shell in which it truly belongs. This is what is happening to the dirt, concrete or asphalt sidewalk that is so much warmer than the adjacent grassy area.

On the grass, when the sun light hits the chlorophyll molecules, instead of returning to the lower energy shell the atom throws off the electron which cascades down a transport chain. A new electron is taken from water and oxygen is a waste product given off by the grass. This electron that was thrown off the chlorophyll indirectly causes the production of ATP, which is the basic form of cellular energy as well as causes the reduction of NADP to NADPH (another form of cellular energy) which moves to a cycle called the Calvin-Benson Cycle. The ultimate product of the cycle is the production of glucose. This is the process of photosynthesis. Now this process has been amazingly simplified, but the basics are there.

Now we must revisit one of our initial assumptions: natural laws are constants everywhere in the universe. If entropy is the natural movement of the universe from order to disorder, and the normal result of entropy is the production of heat then something is amiss. In photosynthesis heat is not thrown off by the grass next to the hot sidewalk, instead sugar is produced by the series of several chemical and biological reactions. This is the opposite of entropy. This is movement from disorder to order! In accordance with Newton's First Law of Motion there must be an external force acting on the movement of entropy for this to occur. Evolution may be the force acting contrary to entropy, but God might also be the force acting contrary to entropy.

Beginning with all initial assumptions and analysing photosynthesis in the light of entropy and Newton's Laws of Motion the deduction can be drawn that it is possible for evolution to exist and it is possible for God to exist.