We report the development of an atomic decomposition method of the protein solvation entropy in water, which allows us to understand global change in the solvation entropy in terms of local changes in protein conformation as well as in hydration structure. This method can be implemented via a combined approach based on molecular dynamics simulation and integral-equation theory of liquids. An illustrative application is made to 42-residue amyloid-beta protein in water. We demonstrate how this method enables one to elucidate the molecular origin for the hydration entropy change upon conformational transitions of protein. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.