Ferris on Hubble
Here is a rather lovely quote from last month’s National Geographic, in an article on the Hubble Space Telescope written by Timothy Ferris (Coming of Age in the Milky Way):
Surveying the whole panoply of physics, from quasars imaged by Hubble near the edge of the observable universe to the sub-atomic realms probed by particle accelerators, one increasingly gets the sense that science has as yet detected only the tip of an iceberg. Consider the question of dimensionality: On how many dimensions is the universe built? Newton got by with just the three dimensions of familiar, everyday space. Einstein improved on Newton’s accuracy by adding time as a fourth dimension: His gravitational fields bend space within four-dimensional space-time. But gravitation is only one of the many fields that … pervade the vacuum of space. If you’re trying to write a unified theory of all the known particles and fields, you may find yourself working in a dozen or more dimensions. And for all we know there are multitudes of as yet undetected particles, each with its own field, implying still more dimensions.
Are these dimensions real, or—as philosophers came to consider Ptolemy’s Earth-centered model of the universe—just a handy way of calculating? Increasingly, physicists suspect that they are real. If so, the perceived universe is but a glimmer on the surface of something much larger and more complex, and the known laws of nature are not bedrock but a kind of weather, like the clouds that form over mountain peaks….
Just a thought. Whole books have been written on the way physics increasingly resembles Zen Buddhism, of course, but I haven’t found a more concise or beautiful way of putting it than Ferris did right there.
Comments
That certainly is beautifully written. I like the way the following joke is written, as well:
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Long ago, when sailing ships ruled the waves, a captain and his crew were in danger of being boarded by a pirate ship. As the crew became frantic, the captain bellowed to his first mate: "Bring me my red shirt!" The first mate quickly retrieved the captain's red shirt, which the captain put on and led the crew to battle the pirate boarding party.
Although some casualties occurred among the crew, the pirates were repelled. Later that day, the lookout screamed that there were two pirate vessels sending boarding parties. The crew cowered in fear, but the captain, calm as ever, bellowed: "Bring me my red shirt!" And once again the battle was on. The captain and his crew repelled both boarding parties, although this time more casualties occurred.
Weary from the battles, the men sat around on deck that night recounting the day's occurrences when a young ensign looked at the captain and asked: "Sir, why did you call for your red shirt before the battles?" The captain, giving the ensign a look that only a captain can give, exhorted: "If I am wounded in battle, the red shirt does not show the wound and thus, you men will continue to fight unafraid." The men sat in silence marveling at the courage of such a man.
As dawn came the next morning, the lookout screamed that there were pirate ships, 10 of them, all with boarding parties on their way. The men became silent and looked to the captain, their leader, for his usual command. The captain, calm as ever, bellowed: "Bring me my brown pants!"
Posted by: Anonymous | December 6, 2007 03:26 PM
You just quoted one of Elise's favorite jokes ever! Well done.
Next time, though, leave your name and email (it won't be published), okay?
Posted by: pat | December 6, 2007 03:30 PM
Sorry Pat. I didn't intend to leave those fields blank. I didn't realize I had until I hit the "Post" button.
Hope you're doing well.
Bruce
Posted by: Bruce Sidener | December 6, 2007 04:06 PM
No problem, Bruce. Thanks for commenting!
Posted by: pat | December 6, 2007 04:19 PM
Oh, I love that joke! I was just trying to remember enough details to tell it today. I was reminded of it as I walked toward my classroom this morning, wearing my only pair of brown pants.
Posted by: Elle | December 7, 2007 10:49 PM