Erwin Schrœdinger, in February 1943, wondered how the evolution of life is possible, in spite of the second law of thermodynamics (principle of increasing entropy). This inconsistency between a fact and a law of physics, not taken into account by the majority, led him to say that we should be ready to accept a new law, the missing piece of a mosaic, to integrate what was already known.

A few years later also Leon Brillouin wondered: "How is it possible to understand life when the entire world is ordered by a law such as the second principle of thermodynamics, which points to death and annihilation?"