Studies on the Motion of Viscous Flows~II 



As the concept nonuniformity refers to an intensive and general aspect of 

 nature, it is not restricted to particular scales and therefore gives a basis for 

 unifying phenomena that depend simultaneously on many scales. A principle 

 which restricts a global measure of uniformity is therefore equivalent to a law 

 that conditions, and thus connects, phenomena which are described and coordi- 

 nated over a large range of space-time scales. Accordingly, the principle of 

 maximum uniformity leads naturally to the concept of control centers which are 

 seated in restricted space -time domains, and which control and organize the 

 function of matter extending over much larger domains of space and time. The 

 principle of maximum uniformity implies that these control centers are domi- 

 nant sites of action in a global domain which it conditions. 



To evolve concepts necessary for comprehending the nature and function of 

 control centers and for formulating general propositions which condition non- 

 equilibrium thermodynamical processes, it is necessary to find a way simulta- 

 neously to consider, condition, and thus connect natural phenomena which exist 

 and which are coordinated over a large range of space-time scales. Only in 

 this way can we expect to gain an insight into the nature of these centers which 

 evidently are universal aspects of nature. They are of course phenomenologi- 

 cally and strikingly displayed in the performance of living materials, by their 

 facility to structure, organize, and coordinate the functions of matter which ex- 

 tends over a large range of space -time scales. The principle of maximum uni- 

 formity conceived as a generalization of explicit information, obtained as a 

 theorem on the distribution of internal forces for a class of dynamical systems, 

 does provide a conceptual framework for unifying and thereby interconnecting 

 phenomena coordinated over a large range of space and time scales. It also 

 provides a basis for seriously attempting a formulation of propositions govern- 

 ing strongly nonequilibrium thermodynamical systems. :i._ :•■ -. 



Finally, this paper will consider the principle of maximum uniformity as a 

 basis for formulating a general proposition pertaining to nonequilibrium thermo- 

 dynamics, by citing the correspondence between the mechanical concept 'force' 

 and the thermodynamical concept 'availability,' each conceived here as particu- 

 lar manifestations of the principle of maximum uniformity. Certain hydrody- 

 namical aspects of this principle and its role in the conception and application 

 of variational principles in hydrodynamics will also be presented. 



THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ,. 



The present paper is the first of a series concerned with the identification 

 of various aspects of evolution and their connection with a universal evolutionary 

 process which emanates from irreducible and universal processes, identified 

 here with the Dimensional Universal Constants of Nature. This paper is spe- 

 cifically concerned with the nature of force, equilibrium, nonuniformity, and 

 stability, envisaged here as particular aspects of evolution which is conceived 

 as a universal process that reconciles everywhere in nature, constancy, and 

 change. 



An outline will be given of the ideas and reasoning which led to the concep- 

 tion of a proposition that may prove to be a general law of nature, fundamentally 



461 



