First a disclaimer:
I do not understand much of the intricacies of physics, let alone any algebra
or math higher than the most basic of mathematics. But for most of m reading life I have been
fascinated with outer space, which is increased every time new pictures from
Hubble appear or photos from the far reaches of our tiny blue dot. My first look at Carl Sagan and his series, Cosmos, is the centerpiece of what I do
know. Recently, Neil deGrasse Tyson
became a source of amazement and wonder.
Neil has written a marvelous book titled Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.
I actually read this 208 page book in a single sitting.
Tyson is a most
worthy successor to Carl Sagan. He
explains difficult aspects of physics accessible to all readers who share my
fascination. He begins by breaking down
the steps of the Big Bang, beginning with one trillionth of a second after the
event up to 1,000,000,000 years ago. My
favorite chapter is “Between the Galaxies.”
He writes, “In the grand tally of cosmic constituents, galaxies are what
typically counted. The latest estimates
show that the observable universe may contain a hundred billion of them. Bright and beautiful and packed with stars,
galaxies decorate the dark voids of space like cities across a country at
night. But just how voidy is the void of
space? (How empty is the countryside
between cities?) Just because galaxies are
in your face, and just because they would have us believe that nothing else
matters, the universe may nonetheless contain hard-to-detect things between the
galaxies. Maybe those things are more
interesting, or more important to the evolution of the universe, than the
galaxies themselves” (62). This takes me
back to the first time I peered through a department store telescope a looked
at a blurry smudge that is the Andromeda Galaxy.
I flirted for a
while with considering a degree in astronomy or physics, but the reality of my
math skills slammed on the breaks. I
have a weird inability to add, divide, multiply, or subtract more than two
figures at a time. A hand calculator is
now my necessary companion.
A hot topic in
physics today is the mysterious “dark matter.” It appears as though the largest amount of
matter in our universe is not made up of planets, asteroids, and stars, but
rather it is composed of this invisible powerful force. Tyson says it took geniuses like Newton and
Einstein to get us to where we are today.
He wonders who will be the next Sheldon Cooper. Tyson writes, “We don’t know who’s next in
the genius sequence, but we’ve now been waiting nearly a century for somebody
to tell us why the bulk of all the gravitational force that we’ve measured is
in the universe—about eight-five percent of it—arises from substances that do
not otherwise interact with ‘our’ matter or energy. Or maybe the excess gravity doesn’t come from
matter and energy at all, but emanates from some other conceptual thing. In any case, we are essential clueless. We find ourselves no closer to an answer
today than we were when this ‘missing mass’ problem was first fully analyzed in
1937 by the Swiss-American astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky. He taught at the California Institute of Technology
for more than forty years, combining his far ranging insights into the cosmos
with a colorful means of expression and an impressive ability to antagonize his
colleagues” (77). I enjoy the popular
comedy, ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ immensely, and I wonder if a real Sheldon Cooper
might be in school somewhere, and that I will hear of his discoveries in my
lifetime.
If you have an
interest in all things scientific—as I do—Neil deGrasse Tyson’s book, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will
have you gazing up into the night sky and wondering. 5 stars.
--Chiron, 6/21/17
No comments:
Post a Comment