ABSTRACT
Brillouin in discussing these subjects has suggested that a generalized definition of entropy, including the commonly defined thermodynamic variety and the information entropy discussed by Wiener, Shannon, and a number of others, would be highly desirable. The work of von Bertalanffy on the theory of open systems, and a demonstration of the writer of the physical equivalence of information entropy and thermodynamic entropy in a particular case, can be generalized to yield the required definition. The consideration of entropy relations in systems in which communication is possible leads to a qualitative explanation of the ability of a living organism to maintain and repair itself.
