“I can’t wait to replace this old house with something modern!” complains a young man. “No girl will marry me with a house like this!” “This house was built by our ancestors. You’re not tearing it down!” declares his father. Such disputes have become common among the villagers of China’s southern Anhui province, famous for its spectacular mountains and distinct local culture. The houses in question are magnificent 300-year-old structures with carved beams and lattice windows, legacies of a merchant culture from late imperial times. Using excerpts from her films, Hinton will take the audience into these houses and explore the customs related to home, family and clan. She will discuss issues of destruction, transformation and revival of traditional culture in the context of China’s 20th-century revolution and 21st-century economic boom.

This is my favorite lecture. It is addressed to anyone who has heard about “entropy of mixing”.
It is more of an “educational”, or pedagogical character, than a research topic. I have given this lecture more than 30 times, all over the world. In most places the audience enjoyed it. And, of course, I have had a lot of fun too. The main idea is that, contrary to what is written in most textbooks, mixing of ideal gases, in itself does not change any thermodynamic property of the system. Hence, thermodynamically speaking, it is a “non-process”. The informational-theoretical aspects of mixing and assimilation is discussed - be ready for some stunning conclusions!