Entropy and Consumerism in Pynchon's Works

In his works, Pynchon engages the difficult concept of entropy and exposes how certain trends in contemporary culture and society, such as consumerism, exhibit tendencies similar to those of entropy. This observation has disturbing implications for contemporary culture and society, such as eventual cultural heat-death, where new ideas cease to develop, because all the useful intellectual energy has been exhausted. Therefore, I have decided to examine this concept of entropy and how Pynchon engages it in his works "Entropy," The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow, which expose the main contributors to greater entropy and the disturbing implications of this concept for contemporary culture and society, some of which we are witnessing even today. The two main scientific types of entropy, thermodynamic and that of information theory, are explored by Pynchon in his early short story "Entropy," which I have analyzed in the second chapter of this thesis. As such, this short story provides an unobstructed view of Pynchon's early engagement with the concept of entropy, which increases in complexity in his later works The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow. The Crying of Lot 49, explored in the third chapter of this thesis, indicates a considerable development of and change in Pynchon's perspective..

Entropie a spotřebitelství v Pynchonových dílech

Ve svých dílech se Pynchon zabývá složitým konceptem entropie a odhaluje, jak určité trendy v současné kultuře a společnosti, jako například konzumerismus, vykazují tendence podobné těm entropie. Tento objev odhaluje znepokojivé důsledky pro současnou kulturu a společnost, jako například tepelnou smrt kultury, kde se nové myšlenky přestanou rozvíjet, protože všechna intelektuální energie byla vyčerpána. Proto jsem se rozhodl prozkoumat tento pojem entropie, a jak se jím Pynchon zabývá ve svých dílech "Entropie," Dražba série č. 49 a Druhá Gravitace, které odhalují hlavní přispěvatele k větší entropii a znepokojivé důsledky tohoto pojmu pro současnou kulturu a společnost, z nichž některých jsme svědky už dnes. Pynchon zkoumá dva hlavní dva druhy vědecké entropie, termodynamické a té informační teorie, v jeho rané povídce Entropie, kterou podrobně zkoumám ve druhé kapitole této práce. Tato povídka nabízí ničím nerušený pohled na to, jak se Pynchon zpočátku zabýval tématikou entropie, jejíž složitost se postupně zvyšuje v jeho pozdějších dílech Dražba série č. 49 a Druhá Gravitace. Dražba série č. 49, kterou se zabývám ve třetí kapitole této práce, ukazuje značný vývoj a změnu v pohledu Pynchonova pojetí entropie zavedením Maxwellova démona. Přes námitky proti tomuto teoretickému konceptu, poskytuje...In his works, Pynchon engages the difficult concept of entropy and exposes how certain trends in contemporary culture and society, such as consumerism, exhibit tendencies similar to those of entropy. This observation has disturbing implications for contemporary culture and society, such as eventual cultural heat-death, where new ideas cease to develop, because all the useful intellectual energy has been exhausted. Therefore, I have decided to examine this concept of entropy and how Pynchon engages it in his works "Entropy," The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow, which expose the main contributors to greater entropy and the disturbing implications of this concept for contemporary culture and society, some of which we are witnessing even today. The two main scientific types of entropy, thermodynamic and that of information theory, are explored by Pynchon in his early short story "Entropy," which I have analyzed in the second chapter of this thesis. As such, this short story provides an unobstructed view of Pynchon's early engagement with the concept of entropy, which increases in complexity in his later works The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow. The Crying of Lot 49, explored in the third chapter of this thesis, indicates a considerable development of and change in Pynchon's perspective...Department of Anglophone Literatures and CulturesÚstav anglofonních literatur a kulturFaculty of ArtsFilozofická fakult

Tsumoite and associated tellurides from the Au deposit Libčice near Nový Knín, Czech Republic: mineralogy and genetic significance

A mineral association with dominant pyrrhotite, tsumoite and gold, accompanied by minor tetradymite and pilsenite, has been found in material from the main vein of the abandoned Au deposit Libčice near Nový Knín, 25 km SSW of Prague, central Bohemia, Czech Republic. Tsumoite forms abundant silvery grey tabular aggregates up to 1-4 mm in size. The mineral is grey-white to very weakly beige-coloured in reflected light, anisotropic, with VHN microhardness 68 (63-76) kg/mm 2 , with K VH = 1. 14. Gold contains low Ag (up to 4 wt. %) and Hg (up to 1 wt. %). The studied mineral association formed at elevated temperatures (>300 ºC), probably at two stages differing in bismuth activity, as well as f S2 and f Te2 values. Alternatively, the two stages could have reflected variation of hydrothermal and metamorphic process in space and time