Time's Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, and a New Law of Nature

by Robert M. Hazen, Michael L. Wong

A distinguished geoscientist and rising-star astrobiologist offer a stunning new theory upending 150 years of established science—and an inspiring new vision of our universe.

Of the codified laws of nature, famously, only one inscribes a direction to time: the dreaded second law of thermodynamics, which declares that the disorder of a closed system tends to increase as time passes. New shoes eventually scuff, our bodies weaken and die. Yet our senses tell us that miraculous order constantly emerges, too: children grow and learn; spontaneous patterns manifest in murmurations of starlings. Can it be true that the laws of our universe mandate only dissolution—rendering the intricate order of a butterfly’s wing, the much-vaunted complexity of the human brain, merely incidental?

In Time’s Second Arrow, star scientists Robert M. Hazen and Michael L. Wong overturn more than a century of scientific canon, arguing that, in fact, there must be a second “arrow of time”—a heretofore missing law of nature that explains how the marvelously complex constituents of our universe came to be. Evolution, they boldly propose, is a universal phenomenon—not only in biology, but in the entire atomic, chemical, mineral, and physical universe. Showing how a natural process of selection for increasing function has shaped the universe since its inception, they explore how this new law could possibly help us identify life on other planets and—perhaps—even understand the purpose and meaning of life on Earth in a new way.

Elegantly written and deeply moving, Time’s Second Arrow reveals how our cosmic inheritance includes, even alongside loss and decay, a drive toward wondrous invention and progress—ultimately revising our understanding of the universe and our place within it.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, History

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 2026

About the author

Robert M. Hazen, Senior Research Scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s Geophysical Laboratory and the Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Science at George Mason University, received the B.S. and S.M. in geology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1971), and the Ph.D. at Harvard University in earth science (1975). The Past President of the Mineralogical Society of America, Hazen’s recent research focuses on the possible roles of minerals in the origin of life. He is also Principal Investigator of the Deep Carbon Observatory.

Reviews

[James Easterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We cannot avoid an increase in entropy in our lives, but we can choose to act in ways that minimize some of its worst consequences. Drive safely. Look both ways before crossing the street. Floss.” Cute!
So their proposal of a new natural law of increasing functional information describes an increase in order through the evolutionary process, and is somewhat of a counter balance to entropy (the universal decrease in natural order).
This of course is true unless you view everything as falling apart and see no increase in complexities in nature.
I have always seen the fault in the entropy only view. One of the most exciting things I see in science and nature is emerging phenomenon. Where the whole of is more than the sum of its parts. This is how nature functions. Put two or more completely different components together and get something totally new. Two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen, get water. Very simple example but awesome to consider.
I like to say that the only constant is change. But it comes in many forms. Entropy is one. Evolution is another.
I agree with the conclusion but 4 stars because I didn’t fine the read that enjoyable.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

The authors keep trying to present their ideas as a law of the universe or a theory. It's just an observation and a way of framing it. It doesn't explain or predict anything and can be stretched to mean anything you want because functional information is not defined in a strict way. Anything strict would defy the law of entropy.

[Trent Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t believe my friend wrote this!!!