navanavonmilita
2010-09-03 03:11:10 UTC
Book review: ‘The Grand Design’ by Stephen Hawking and Leonard
Mlodinow
by navanavonmilita on September 3, 2010
http://chopshoptopcop.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/book-review-the-grand-design-by-stephen-hawking-and-leonard-mlodinow/
The Grand Design
Book review: ‘The Grand Design’ by Stephen Hawking and Leonard
Mlodinow
This fascinating book ponders the numerous theories that explain our
universe, scientific and otherwise.
Stephen Hawking (Bantam Books / August 26, 2010)
By Michael Moorcock
Special to the Los Angeles Times
September 5, 2010
la-ca-stephen-hawking-20100905
The Grand Design
Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
Bantam: 200 pp., $28
Robert Oppenheimer was fond of proposing that physics and poetry were
becoming indistinguishable. In “The Grand Design,” Cambridge theorist
Stephen Hawking and Caltech physicist Leonard Mlodinow seem to suggest
that physics and metaphysics are also growing closer. They point out
that the unified field theory that physicists, including Einstein,
spent the better part of the 20th century trying to construct,
probably can’t exist. Models of the universe are changing radically.
We now live in a world in which many physicists have come to believe
there are not merely three dimensions (plus time) but 10 or possibly
11.
Our scientific thinking has always tended to reflect its era. Some
believe this is because we need a model or an idea emerging from our
social and intellectual environment before we set about seeking the
appropriate evidence. Science fiction, for instance, quite frequently
“seeds” a notion into the scientific community before a physicist does
the math and provides the evidence, though certain ideas, if born
outside their time, might wait centuries before they are recognized.
Today, in a pluralistic age, it seems we need a number of overlapping
theories with factors in common to describe what we are beginning to
call the multiverse. In an environment that includes black holes,
super black holes, dark matter, dark energy , string theory, M-theory,
alternate pasts and alternate futures, we can no longer assume there
is one universe or even a set of universes, with a single group of
natural laws applicable to everything from the domain of atoms to that
of astronomy.
This does not mean all ideas are created equal or that every strand of
the multiverse is radically different from its nearest neighbor. We
can argue, however, that one set of scientific laws might be
appropriate to one universe, or even galaxy, while not quite fitting
another. Even laws we have taken for granted, like those relating to
the speed of light, might be at odds in different realms of a near-
infinite set of universes. The grand design which we have taken for
granted since Newton is likely to be more complex than anything he
ever dreamed of.
While not dealing with recent developments in astrophysics or
discussing chaos theory, Hawking and Mlodinow’s fascinating book, with
its wonderful illustrations, takes us through the various supernatural
and scientific cosmological theories that mankind has developed since
earliest times to explain our universe. Since the Ionian intellectual
awakening, when the likes of Aristarchus (310 BC-230 BC) calculated
that the sun was bigger than the Earth and that our world orbited a
star like other stars, people have feared that such ideas contradict
the notion of a creator and that without faith in divine beings we
should sink into immorality and decadence. Descartes had, like Newton
and Darwin, no problem enquiring into the fundamentals of his
surroundings while maintaining a profound faith in God. Indeed, some
suggest that a complex, mysterious multiverse only proves the
existence of an equally complex and mysterious deity. Certainly ideas
first found in the realm of metaphysics continue to migrate to the
realm of
physics.
If nature is governed by laws, argue the authors, then three questions
arise: 1) What is the nature of those laws? 2) Are there exceptions to
the laws (for example, miracles)? 3) Is there only one set of possible
laws?
“The Grand Design” sets out to answer these questions, demonstrating
how we are dependent on models of reality that, with investigation,
can sometimes change. And their arguments do indeed bring us closer to
seeing our world, universe and multiverse in terms that a previous
generation might easily have dismissed as supernatural. This succinct,
easily digested book could perhaps do with fewer dry, academic
groaners, but Hawking and Mlodinow pack in a wealth of ideas and leave
us with a clearer understanding of modern physics in all its
invigorating complexity.
Moorcock is the award—winning author of many books, including “Mother
London” and the Elric saga. His “Pyat” series, describing events
leading to the Nazi holocaust, will be published next year.
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times
Comments (2)
IbrahimAmmar at 2:56 PM September 02, 2010
old cultures used to believe that the moon is their god.. it turned
out that it is a imple rock
who knows? it may turn out that our god now is a simple something who
knows?
ironboltbruce at 2:31 PM September 02, 2010
Stephen Hawking is a Fraud:
Asked in October 2005 on the British daytime chat show, Richard &
Judy, to explain his assertion that the question “What came before the
Big Bang?” was meaningless, he compared it to asking “What lies north
of the North Pole?”
BUL***T.
The former is a still-unanswered question rooted in TIME. The latter
is a straightforward question rooted in SPACE and answered by LATITUDE
and LONGITUDE. Both are valid questions: Many know the answer to the
latter. None, including Stephen W. Hawking, know the answer to the
former. And that’s assuming, of course, there ever WAS a “Big Bang”.
“Never try to think outside of our own bubble” … MY A*S.
Hail to the the King, Oops, Hawk, Opps, HawKing
I think Stephen Hawking is a frawd.
Stephen Hawking’s frawds must not be accepted as true Gawdly science.
It is Fawlty, Sawlty, Satanic, oops, Sawtanic, oops, Titanic sure to
sink in the Atlantic Ocean Science.
Stephen Hawking is a deputy Dawg, oops, deputy Gawd, oops, a deputy
Satan, oops, a deputy Sawtan.
Stephen Hawking, as a matter of fact, is an idiot, oops, an idiowt.
Furthermore, Stephen Hawking is an Ibliss, oops, an original I Bliss,
oops, I Bless, oops, I Bless the Gawd, oops, may Allah be Praised.
http://chopshoptopcop.wordpress.com/
…and I am Sid Harth
Mlodinow
by navanavonmilita on September 3, 2010
http://chopshoptopcop.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/book-review-the-grand-design-by-stephen-hawking-and-leonard-mlodinow/
The Grand Design
Book review: ‘The Grand Design’ by Stephen Hawking and Leonard
Mlodinow
This fascinating book ponders the numerous theories that explain our
universe, scientific and otherwise.
Stephen Hawking (Bantam Books / August 26, 2010)
By Michael Moorcock
Special to the Los Angeles Times
September 5, 2010
la-ca-stephen-hawking-20100905
The Grand Design
Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
Bantam: 200 pp., $28
Robert Oppenheimer was fond of proposing that physics and poetry were
becoming indistinguishable. In “The Grand Design,” Cambridge theorist
Stephen Hawking and Caltech physicist Leonard Mlodinow seem to suggest
that physics and metaphysics are also growing closer. They point out
that the unified field theory that physicists, including Einstein,
spent the better part of the 20th century trying to construct,
probably can’t exist. Models of the universe are changing radically.
We now live in a world in which many physicists have come to believe
there are not merely three dimensions (plus time) but 10 or possibly
11.
Our scientific thinking has always tended to reflect its era. Some
believe this is because we need a model or an idea emerging from our
social and intellectual environment before we set about seeking the
appropriate evidence. Science fiction, for instance, quite frequently
“seeds” a notion into the scientific community before a physicist does
the math and provides the evidence, though certain ideas, if born
outside their time, might wait centuries before they are recognized.
Today, in a pluralistic age, it seems we need a number of overlapping
theories with factors in common to describe what we are beginning to
call the multiverse. In an environment that includes black holes,
super black holes, dark matter, dark energy , string theory, M-theory,
alternate pasts and alternate futures, we can no longer assume there
is one universe or even a set of universes, with a single group of
natural laws applicable to everything from the domain of atoms to that
of astronomy.
This does not mean all ideas are created equal or that every strand of
the multiverse is radically different from its nearest neighbor. We
can argue, however, that one set of scientific laws might be
appropriate to one universe, or even galaxy, while not quite fitting
another. Even laws we have taken for granted, like those relating to
the speed of light, might be at odds in different realms of a near-
infinite set of universes. The grand design which we have taken for
granted since Newton is likely to be more complex than anything he
ever dreamed of.
While not dealing with recent developments in astrophysics or
discussing chaos theory, Hawking and Mlodinow’s fascinating book, with
its wonderful illustrations, takes us through the various supernatural
and scientific cosmological theories that mankind has developed since
earliest times to explain our universe. Since the Ionian intellectual
awakening, when the likes of Aristarchus (310 BC-230 BC) calculated
that the sun was bigger than the Earth and that our world orbited a
star like other stars, people have feared that such ideas contradict
the notion of a creator and that without faith in divine beings we
should sink into immorality and decadence. Descartes had, like Newton
and Darwin, no problem enquiring into the fundamentals of his
surroundings while maintaining a profound faith in God. Indeed, some
suggest that a complex, mysterious multiverse only proves the
existence of an equally complex and mysterious deity. Certainly ideas
first found in the realm of metaphysics continue to migrate to the
realm of
physics.
If nature is governed by laws, argue the authors, then three questions
arise: 1) What is the nature of those laws? 2) Are there exceptions to
the laws (for example, miracles)? 3) Is there only one set of possible
laws?
“The Grand Design” sets out to answer these questions, demonstrating
how we are dependent on models of reality that, with investigation,
can sometimes change. And their arguments do indeed bring us closer to
seeing our world, universe and multiverse in terms that a previous
generation might easily have dismissed as supernatural. This succinct,
easily digested book could perhaps do with fewer dry, academic
groaners, but Hawking and Mlodinow pack in a wealth of ideas and leave
us with a clearer understanding of modern physics in all its
invigorating complexity.
Moorcock is the award—winning author of many books, including “Mother
London” and the Elric saga. His “Pyat” series, describing events
leading to the Nazi holocaust, will be published next year.
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times
Comments (2)
IbrahimAmmar at 2:56 PM September 02, 2010
old cultures used to believe that the moon is their god.. it turned
out that it is a imple rock
who knows? it may turn out that our god now is a simple something who
knows?
ironboltbruce at 2:31 PM September 02, 2010
Stephen Hawking is a Fraud:
Asked in October 2005 on the British daytime chat show, Richard &
Judy, to explain his assertion that the question “What came before the
Big Bang?” was meaningless, he compared it to asking “What lies north
of the North Pole?”
BUL***T.
The former is a still-unanswered question rooted in TIME. The latter
is a straightforward question rooted in SPACE and answered by LATITUDE
and LONGITUDE. Both are valid questions: Many know the answer to the
latter. None, including Stephen W. Hawking, know the answer to the
former. And that’s assuming, of course, there ever WAS a “Big Bang”.
“Never try to think outside of our own bubble” … MY A*S.
Hail to the the King, Oops, Hawk, Opps, HawKing
I think Stephen Hawking is a frawd.
Stephen Hawking’s frawds must not be accepted as true Gawdly science.
It is Fawlty, Sawlty, Satanic, oops, Sawtanic, oops, Titanic sure to
sink in the Atlantic Ocean Science.
Stephen Hawking is a deputy Dawg, oops, deputy Gawd, oops, a deputy
Satan, oops, a deputy Sawtan.
Stephen Hawking, as a matter of fact, is an idiot, oops, an idiowt.
Furthermore, Stephen Hawking is an Ibliss, oops, an original I Bliss,
oops, I Bless, oops, I Bless the Gawd, oops, may Allah be Praised.
http://chopshoptopcop.wordpress.com/
…and I am Sid Harth