The Scientist Who Found Symmetry in Irreversible Nature

Lars Onsager changed thermodynamics by discovering reciprocal relations that connect coupled irreversible processes such as heat conduction, diffusion and electrical flow. Born in Norway in 1903, he trained at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, worked with Peter Debye in Zurich and moved to the United States in 1928. After appointments at Johns Hopkins and Brown, he joined Yale in 1933. This documentary follows his reciprocal laws, exact Ising-model solution and 1968 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Everyday processes such as cooling, diffusion and electrical conduction appear to move only toward equilibrium, yet Onsager found a deep symmetry hidden inside their irreversible behavior. His reciprocal relations became a foundation of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, while his exact solution of the two-dimensional Ising model reshaped statistical mechanics. This documentary explores a famously original thinker whose sparse publications contained several discoveries worthy of the highest honors.