‘...any physical system is most stable at its lowest energy and acts to reach that equilibrium if at all possible. This behaviour is so widespread and well-known in physics that it does not go by a special name, but I’ll call it the minimizing principal for easy reference. The principal explains why a ball rolls downhill; why a stretched spring returns to its relaxed state when it is released; and why a laser emits light. In each case, the action happens as the physical system returns to a lower energy after being raised to a higher one. And the minimizing principal is the reason that drops of water and bubbles take on their particular shapes… [Sidney Perkowitz]’

[LESS]
‘...any physical system is most stable at its lowest energy and acts to reach that equilibrium if at all possible. This behaviour is so widespread and well-known in physics that it does not go by a special name, but I’ll call it the minimizing principal for easy reference. The principal explains why a ball rolls downhill; why a stretched spring returns to its relaxed state when it is released; and why a laser emits light. In each case, the action happens as the physical system returns to a lower energy after being raised to a higher one. And the minimizing principal is the reason that drops of water and bubbles take on their particular shapes… [Sidney Perkowitz]’