Note 2 — Chapter I

E.g. the irreversible motion of an electron in the field of a bar magnet is rendered formally reversible by the assumption that the magnetic field is due to moving electrons. Yet this assumption is highly artificial since it postulates electronic movements that have never been observed. In other cases irreversibility is eliminated by the choice of special co-ordinate systems. Some physicists now hold the view that irreversibility may be inherent in atomic as it is in organic processes.