We live in a fascinating, dynamic world surrounded by complex systems and ruled by a myriad of intangible laws. But what if all the complexity of our climate, our ecosystems, and even life itself could be grounded in a single concept, a single law of nature that has the power to give rise to all these complex systems and more? What if we had already discovered it? The Second Law of Thermodynamics sounds more complex than it is. But, put simply it states that energy will spread out over time; that order will tend to disorder, and heat will flow into the cool. In real terms the second law translates to ‘nature abhors a gradient’. Natural systems will form to disperse an energy gradient whenever it occurs. These systems can become incredibly complex, so complex that they may well be the driving force behind life as we know it. Join Eric D. Schneider and Dorion Sagan on a journey from cups of tea to tornadoes, and steam engines to jungles. In the process you may well discover why Life is just another cog in a grander machine, why trees are cool, and why we probably shouldn’t be changing the temperature of our planet.