Maxwell's Demon by Ken Barr

Published 1978 by Baronet Publishing
Cover for the paperback collection of short stories by Ben Bova.


The title of the book is based on physicist James Clerk Maxwell's attempt to disprove the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
One of the principles of the Second Law is that it's impossible for heat to flow from a colder body to a hotter body without external work. Maxwell postulated that a being (dubbed a demon by others) could by opening and closing a door between vessels and allowing only fast moving molecules to move from one vessel to a another, would then heat up one vessel while allowing the other to be colder as the faster molecules would have more heat. Other scientists argue that the demon, by opening and closing the door is creating work disproving Maxwell.
It was however an interesting thought experiment and term Maxwell's demon has become imbued in our literature.

Bova explains that he saw Maxwell's demon was a disruptor, one who wanted to change the status quo, and in real life, these are usually our heroes or villains. So he presents a collection of his own personal demons and heroes, in science fiction and science fact, told with humor and adventure.