The article is written in the style of Scientific American. A minimum of mathematics is used in the presentation of a new approach to the understanding of the Second Law of thermodynamics. The intended readers are engineering students who have been exposed to a standard version of undergraduate thermodynamics (such as AE 2042). It is shown here that, by extending the use of entropy and of temperature to nonequilibrium situations, a more complete formulation of the Second Law is possible. Applications of the foegoing concept to fluid flow, to chemical reactions, and to lasers are presented. (Author)