Editing The Crying of Lot 49 (section)

=== Maxwell's demon ===
After being prompted to by Stanley Koteks, Oedipa seeks out John Nefastis and his invention coined the 'Nefastis Machine'. This machine attempts to serve as a [[perpetual motion machine]], utilizing the theory of [[Maxwell's demon]] to sort molecules within a closed chamber.<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |last=Palmeri |first=Frank |date=1987 |title=Neither Literally nor as Metaphor: Pynchon's the Crying of Lot 49 and the Structure of Scientific Revolutions |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2873106 |journal=ELH |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=979–999|doi=10.2307/2873106 |jstor=2873106 }}</ref> Nefastis explains that a telepathic operator or 'sensitive' is necessary to work the invention by looking into a photo of [[James Clerk Maxwell]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=Bruce |date=1996 |title=Allegories of Victorian Thermodynamics |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/8094 |journal=Configurations |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=67–90|doi=10.1353/con.1996.0005 }}</ref>

Despite Nefastis' attempt at invention, the [[second law of thermodynamics]] and its statement regarding [[entropy]] cannot be disproven, as the system gains entropy by way of measurement by the demon.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grant |first=J Kerry |date=Spring–Fall 1991 |title=Not Quite so Crazy After all These Years: Pynchon's Creative Engineer |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/99710634/pn-2776-grant.pdf |journal=Pynchon Notes |volume=28-29 |pages=43–52}}</ref><ref name=":33">{{Cite journal |last=Abernethy |first=Peter L |date=January 1, 1972 |title=Entropy in Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/177a3a204bdb638de1267a708c8a13ee/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1819230 |journal=Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=18–33|doi=10.1080/00111619.1972.10690022 }}</ref> This alludes to a famous retort of Maxwell's demon by [[Leo Szilard|Szilard]] and [[Léon Brillouin|Brillouin]] which sought to establish congruence between entropy in [[information theory]] and [[thermodynamics]].<ref name=":23">{{Cite journal |last=Leland |first=John P |date=Jan 1, 1974 |title=Pynchon's Linguistic Demon: The Crying of Lot 49 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1310174806 |journal=Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=45–53|doi=10.1080/00111619.1974.10690082 |id={{ProQuest|1310174806}} }}</ref> Scholars have pointed to the entropic nature and indeterminacy of the novel as a symbol which invalidates the demon's existence.<ref name=":05">{{Cite journal |last=Ferrero |first=David J |date=Spring–Fall 1999 |title=Echoes of Narcissus: Classical Mythology and Postmodern Pessimism in The Crying of Lot 49 |url=https://pynchonnotes.openlibhums.org/article/id/2400/download/pdf/ |journal=Pynchon Notes |volume=44-45 |pages=82–94}}</ref><ref name=":23" />

Oedipa's role within ''The Crying of Lot 49'' can be likened to [[Maxwell's demon]]—a force which seeks to reverse the flow of entropy on the town of San Narciso.<ref name=":05" /> Just as the demon is hypothesized to sort unpredictable, random molecules to create order from disorder, Oedipa seeks to make sense of the mystery of Trystero.<ref name=":05" /> San Narciso as a city is often described as 'still' or 'silent'; a place where life has stagnated, one cultural microcosm of many within the United States.<ref name=":05" /><ref name=":33" /> The concept of Trystero acts as a promise to reverse the entropic regress that America has fallen into, as an 'anarchist miracle'.<ref name=":14" /><ref name=":23" />