The principle underlying all evolution, biological, geophysical, social and technological.

This article addresses the main research areas identified in the call for contributions to this special issue. With examples from published articles and books, the present article shows that all the identified areas are already covered by the universal principle underlying all evolution: the constructal law (1996), i.e. the physics law of design evolution in nature (free morphing, flowing, moving systems). The universal principle of evolution belongs in thermodynamics because thermodynamics is a universal science and evolution is a universal phenomenon. The principle unites the natural sciences with the social sciences, and the living with the non-living. It unifies the world of science and its languages (energy, economy, evolution, sustainability, etc.), and brings together the natural and artificial flow architectures, the human made and the not human made. The principle establishes firmly in physics the reality that humans are part of nature. With the principle, physics extends its coverage over phenomena that were previously considered out of reach: social organization, economics and human perceptions. Such phenomena are physical, i.e. facts. The entire world depends on the science of useful things, and benefits greatly from a physics discipline with freedom, life, wealth, time, beauty and future. This article is part of the theme issue 'Thermodynamics 2.0: bridging the natural and social sciences (Part 1)'.