If I were a Quark, I'd take two down.
Posted on 11/12/2010 1:18:50 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
From the idea that our universe is one among many, to the revelation that mathematician Pythagoras didn't actually invent the Pythagorean theorem, here are eight shocking things we learned from reading physicist Stephen Hawking's new book, "The Grand Design," written with fellow physicist Leonard Mlodinow of Caltech.
This book, covering major questions about the nature and origin of the universe, was released Sept. 7 by its publisher, Bantam.
1. The past is possibility According to Hawking and Mlodinow, one consequence of the theory of quantum mechanics is that events in the past that were not directly observed did not happen in a definite way. Instead they happened in all possible ways. This is related to the probabilistic nature of matter and energy revealed by quantum mechanics: Unless forced to choose a particular state by direct interference from an outside observation, things will hover in a state of uncertainty.
For example, if all we know is that a particle traveled from point A to point B, then it is not true that the particle took a definite path and we just don't know what it is. Rather, that particle simultaneously took every possible path connecting the two points.
Yeah, we're still trying to wrap our brains around this.
The authors sum up: "No matter how thorough our observation of the present, the (unobserved) past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities."
2. The power of light This fun fact: A 1-watt night-light emits a billion billion photons each second. Photons are the little packets that light comes in. Confusingly, they, like all particles, behave as both a particle and a wave.
3. Theory of everything If there is any "theory of everything" that can describe the whole universe, it is M theory, according to Hawking and Mlodinow. This model is a version of string theory, which posits that at the tiniest levels all particles are fundamentally little loops of string that vibrate at different frequencies. And, if true, all matter and energy would follow rules derived from the nature of these strings.
"M theory is the only model that has all the properties we think the final theory ought to have," the authors write.
One consequence of this theory is that our universe is not the only one – untold numbers of cousin universes exist with different physical laws and properties.
4. General relativity If most people think of general relativity at all, they assume this high-minded idea of Einstein's applies only to super-large objects completely outside the realm of normal life, such as galaxies and black holes.
But actually, the warping of space-time does affect things we know and use, the authors point out.
"If general relativity were not taken into account in GPS satellite navigation systems, errors in global positions would accumulate at a rate of about ten kilometers each day," the book states. That's because general relativity describes how time flows slower the closer an object is to a large mass. Thus, depending on satellites' distances from Earth, their onboard clocks will run at slightly different speeds, which could offset position calculations unless this effect is taken into account."
5. Oppressed fish A few years ago, the city council of Monza, Italy, barred pet owners from keeping goldfish in curved bowls. This law was meant to protect the poor fish from a distorted nature of reality, since bent light might show them an odd portrayal of their surroundings.
Hawking and Mlodinow bring up the incident to make the point that it is impossible to know the true nature of reality. We think we have an accurate picture of what's going on, but how would we know if we were metaphorically living in a giant fishbowl of our own, since we would never be able to see outside our own point of view to compare?
6. Pythagoras stole the credit In passing, the authors casually assert that the famous Greek mathematician Pythagoras did not actually discover the Pythagorean theorem.
A little digging suggests the formula (a2 + b2 = c2, which describes the relationship between the three sides of a right triangle) was actually known earlier. The Babylonians, for example, seem to have documented the basic idea in ancient mathematical tablets before Pythagoras came on the scene in 570 B.C.
7. Quarks are never lonely Quarks, the adorably named building blocks of protons and neutrons, come only in groups, never alone. Apparently, the force that binds quarks together increases with distance, so the farther one tries to pry a lone quark away, the harder it will pull back. Therefore, free quarks never exist in nature.
Protons and neutrons are both made of three quarks. (Protons contain two "up"-flavored quarks and one "down," while neutrons have two downs and one up.)
8. The universe is its own creator One of the most talked-about assertions in the whole book is that we don't need the idea of God to explain what sparked the creation of the universe.
"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going," Hawking and Mlodinow write.
Instead, the laws of science alone can explain why the universe began. Our modern understanding of time suggests that it is just another dimension, like space. Thus it doesn't have a beginning.
"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing," they write. "Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist."
Aristotle once asserted that this was true of life... that eels grew from horsehairs that fell into water, and so forth. I'm surprised that we've come so far only to return to the same old drivel.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools
Who was it that went to a bookstore in DC and inserted notes in the stack of Hawking books, that everyone bought years ago out of, let’s face it, pity for the poor cripple, and to make themselves feel good, stuck the notes around page 25 or so, saying please reply to such and such address to receive $50. No one read that far, and no one replied.
Response: Sounds a bit like Bishop Berkeley.
Round and round we go, where we stop nobody knows. And that includes Hawking's circular arguments.
Amen.
One of my favorite things, among many, about FR is that this is an unabashedly pro-God forum. Fools such as Stephen Hawking who are generally held in high regard by atheistic liberals (but I repeat myself) are exposed for what they really are here.
An array of advanced degrees from so-called elite institutions does not instill wisdom or common sense.
So Hawking et al use the “fishbowl” metaphor to assert that there is no universally (!) valid perception ...
Does anyone else appreciate the paradox in asserting (absolutely) that there are no absolutes? And that, “judging from my perspective, there are no valid perspectives.”
It reminds me of a liberal who once told me “It’s always wrong to generalize.”
If it’s any consolation, he did lose The Black Hole War.
Stephen has finally discovered his brain has no continuum.
End of research;)
bkmk
"8. The universe is its own creator One of the most talked-about assertions in the whole book is that we don't need the idea of God to explain what sparked the creation of the universe. "It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going," Hawking and Mlodinow write. Instead, the laws of science alone can explain why the universe began. Our modern understanding of time suggests that it is just another dimension, like space. Thus it doesn't have a beginning. "Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing," they write. "Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist."Yet to support his assertions, he invokes "LUCK" repeatedly . . . luck that following the "Big Bang" the balance of matter and anti-matter was skewed to the side of matter, luck that gravity exists, luck that matter was not distributed evenly following the "Big Bang," luck that stars generate the heavier elements, luck that Earth formed at precisely the right distance from the sun to support life, luck that precisely the right combination of proteins formed and grouped together to form life, etc., etc.
Actually ... the logic of what's reported in this article, is that information didn't arise from randomness, but was, rather, spontaneously generated from nothing.
Which seems a rather different proposition altogether.
Something from nothing is a MIRACLE.
Since virtual particles come from nothing all the time, Hawking has proved that God is still at work in the universe!
At the time, I thought some of the stuff was pretty neat, like particles that have to spin twice to be seen once, and then I go back to the days of the turntable and strobe light...
Does it play 78 RPM? That's more my speed! :-)
Uh, not every woman, every ONE (except me, of course).
You sure about that “awesome” stuff?
When you figure out how DNA information has compiled from that process, let me know.
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