Book Reviewed: Hidden In Plain Sight 3: The secret of time by Andrew Thomas
Physics and philosophy of time: Is time an illusion?
Our understanding of spacetime has advanced in the last couple of years which has led to new thoughts about spacetime and physical reality. Some physicists suggest that space is an illusion and time is real; but others propose that time is an illusion and space is real. The key to this question is to understand the nature of physical reality: How matter (and energy) formed our universe in spacetime? Is it strictly guided by the laws of physics, a set of universal constants and four natural forces? How spacetime is treated in classical and quantum physics? In this book the author tries to address some fundamental questions about time. There are ten chapters and only two chapters (5 and 10) address the question of time directly. The concept of time is discussed mainly from the point of second law of thermodynamics which states that the entropy (chaos) of the universe is increasing (transitioning from order to disorder). Hence this sets the arrow of time, going from past to future. This explains why in our common experience, when a glass of water is dropped on to the floor, it breaks, but it does not reverse itself (to re-assemble) to form the glass with water, because that would be going from an disordered to an ordered state. The author does not go into details of underlying physics but uses a highly simplified approach to the concept of time. The book falls short of a good discussion on time.
According to relativistic physics, time is stitched together with space to form four-dimensional space-time. The passage of time is not absolute - no cosmic clock ticks away the hours of the universe. Instead, time differs from one frame of reference to the next, and what one observer experiences as time, another might experience as a mixture of time and space. In this spacetime concept, the past, present and future all exist together. Space-time is a frozen fabric that does not evolve. Our own existence, from birth to death, is set out in space-time in a timeless way. There is no time flow and no place for now. The concept of time might be similar to that of integers (whole numbers). All numbers exist simultaneously, and it would be insensible to think that the number 1 exists before the number 20.
In quantum physics time plays a key role, keeping track of the ever-changing probabilities, and the wave function of the universe evolves over a clock residing outside this universe. In this scenario the universe is split into two parts: the quantum system being observed and the classical world outside. In this fractured universe, a clock always remains outside the quantum system. According to physicist Carol Rovelli’s thermal time hypothesis, time emerges as a statistical effect, in the same way that temperature emerges from averaging the behavior of large groups of molecules. Most physicists believe space and time are quantized at the most fundamental scale and perhaps exists as atoms; grainy in nature just like the quantum nature of matter (and energy.)
Recently well-known physicists like Lee Smolin and Sean Carroll have provided an in-depth look at the concept of time. For interested readers, I recommend the following books:
From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time by Sean Carroll
Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe by Lee Smolin
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics by Julian Barbour
Friday, October 31, 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Alice in wonderland (1933)
Movie Reviewed: Alice in wonderland (1933)
Enjoyable movie (four stars)
This movie is for children and adults alike; very enjoyable and quite imaginative. At some stages it sounds like a soft horror movie. The movie shows the experiences a young girl lost in looking mirror and enters a strange world where she has actual conversation with various animals. The performance of Charlotte Henry as Alice is magnificent.
There are several versions of this movie and my favorite is the original 1933 film with leading actors (who have lent their voices) which include W.C. Fields, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Roscoe Ates, Edward Everett Horton and Louise Fazenda.
Many astrobiologists have speculated that our interactions with aliens could be even stranger than Alice's in the wonderland. This is a very imaginative movie and it is recommended.
Enjoyable movie (four stars)
This movie is for children and adults alike; very enjoyable and quite imaginative. At some stages it sounds like a soft horror movie. The movie shows the experiences a young girl lost in looking mirror and enters a strange world where she has actual conversation with various animals. The performance of Charlotte Henry as Alice is magnificent.
There are several versions of this movie and my favorite is the original 1933 film with leading actors (who have lent their voices) which include W.C. Fields, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Roscoe Ates, Edward Everett Horton and Louise Fazenda.
Many astrobiologists have speculated that our interactions with aliens could be even stranger than Alice's in the wonderland. This is a very imaginative movie and it is recommended.
Book Reviewed: The Goddess of small victories, by Yannic Grannec
Book Reviewed: The Goddess of small victories, by Yannic Grannec
Frau Gödel
"The Goddess of small victories" is probably not the title I would have used to write about the life and times of Adele Nimbursky (nee Porkert) married to one of the greatest mathematicians of 20th century, Kurt Gödel. This book is primarily a work of fiction but interwoven with many personal facts about the love, romance and the marriage of Adele and Kurt Gödel. One of the main pretexts of this work is that Adele refused to hand over the personal and professional documents of Kurt Gödel to Princeton University; hence the university assigned this task to someone who could retrieve these from Frau Gödel when she was living at a retirement home in Pennsylvania. Some of the facts may have been distorted here; Adele Gödel had given some manuscripts to Princeton, and recently Oxford University published five volumes of Gödel's collected works that included Gödel's Nachlass, a collection of manuscripts, notes, and correspondence.
Albeit partly fictional, the book brilliantly captures the lives of Adele and Kurt from 1927 when they were living on the same street in Vienna. She was a cabaret dancer and he was a young man strongly interested in mathematics, physics and philosophy. Their relationship had difficult beginning. Gödel's mother did not approve of Adele since she was divorced, a cabaret dancer and seven years older than Kurt. The political environment was unfriendly since the influence of the Third Reich in Austria was growing rapidly. Although Adele got to spend time with Kurt and many of his intellectual friends in Vienna, his mental illness had sent him to the sanitarium; at times he was severely ill and she cared for him with tender loving care, and loved him deeply as any dedicated woman would. Their early years were very happy despite some obstacles. After leaving Vienna, and arriving at Princeton, their horizon expanded, especially to Kurt Gödel. Kurt's strong friendship with other Princeton luminaries like Albert Einstein and John von Neumann produced fruitful exchange of thoughts of some of the greatest minds in physics and mathematics. Kurt Gödel and Einstein were neighbors living in Princeton and they were known to take long walks together to the Institute for Advanced Study where they both worked. Later in life, Kurt Gödel became a reclusive and for the fear of food poisoning, never ate food and eventually died of anorexia. There was one woman who stood by him, through thick and thin; that was Madam Adele. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the life of Kurt Gödel.
Frau Gödel
"The Goddess of small victories" is probably not the title I would have used to write about the life and times of Adele Nimbursky (nee Porkert) married to one of the greatest mathematicians of 20th century, Kurt Gödel. This book is primarily a work of fiction but interwoven with many personal facts about the love, romance and the marriage of Adele and Kurt Gödel. One of the main pretexts of this work is that Adele refused to hand over the personal and professional documents of Kurt Gödel to Princeton University; hence the university assigned this task to someone who could retrieve these from Frau Gödel when she was living at a retirement home in Pennsylvania. Some of the facts may have been distorted here; Adele Gödel had given some manuscripts to Princeton, and recently Oxford University published five volumes of Gödel's collected works that included Gödel's Nachlass, a collection of manuscripts, notes, and correspondence.
Albeit partly fictional, the book brilliantly captures the lives of Adele and Kurt from 1927 when they were living on the same street in Vienna. She was a cabaret dancer and he was a young man strongly interested in mathematics, physics and philosophy. Their relationship had difficult beginning. Gödel's mother did not approve of Adele since she was divorced, a cabaret dancer and seven years older than Kurt. The political environment was unfriendly since the influence of the Third Reich in Austria was growing rapidly. Although Adele got to spend time with Kurt and many of his intellectual friends in Vienna, his mental illness had sent him to the sanitarium; at times he was severely ill and she cared for him with tender loving care, and loved him deeply as any dedicated woman would. Their early years were very happy despite some obstacles. After leaving Vienna, and arriving at Princeton, their horizon expanded, especially to Kurt Gödel. Kurt's strong friendship with other Princeton luminaries like Albert Einstein and John von Neumann produced fruitful exchange of thoughts of some of the greatest minds in physics and mathematics. Kurt Gödel and Einstein were neighbors living in Princeton and they were known to take long walks together to the Institute for Advanced Study where they both worked. Later in life, Kurt Gödel became a reclusive and for the fear of food poisoning, never ate food and eventually died of anorexia. There was one woman who stood by him, through thick and thin; that was Madam Adele. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the life of Kurt Gödel.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Book Reviewed: Religions and Extraterrestrial Life: How Will We Deal With It? by David A. Weintraub
Book Reviewed: Religions and Extraterrestrial Life: How Will We Deal With It? by David A. Weintraub
ET and the religion (four stars)
This is an interesting work of Vanderbilt University Professor David Weintraub in which he discusses aliens and religion. Many aspects of our interaction with aliens have been discussed in literature, on cable TV and other media. In this book, the author looks at another topic that has been overlooked, that is, how does earth based religions would deal with the discovery of aliens on a distant planet? What are the positions of scriptures with regards to life elsewhere? How do we introduce our religions to them? Do they have interest in spirituality, if yes; do they have their own religion?
Astronomers have always said that there are billions of planets in the universe and astronomer Frank Drake proposed a formula to calculate the number of planets with potentially advanced life forms, and his formula suggests that there are about 10,000 planets in Milky Way galaxy alone! About 1800 planets have been discovered so far and more being detected, with the launching of NASA’s Kepler mission and European Space Agency (ESA)’s GAIA mission. With future missions like Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to be launched in 2017, and James Webb Space Telescope (planned launching in 2018), the probability of finding aliens is significant and near. In fact some astrobiologists claim that aliens had contact with ancient humans in the past; but this is largely speculative.
Christians believe if aliens have committed sin, then they have to accept Jesus as the savior. Evangelical Christians believe that we are God’s favorite children and would not easily accommodate the notion that aliens are also god’s favorite creatures. According to Genesis 1:14-19; God withheld the creation of the Sun, Moon and stars until the fourth day. Earth is always depicted as the center stage in God's Creation.
Hinduism and Buddhism are the most accommodating faiths since both religions believe in reincarnation. In principal, one could be reincarnated anywhere in the universe. The ancient Hindu scripture, RgVeda is especially supportive of the idea that aliens exist as illustrated in RgVeda 10.72.1 and 10.129.6. Judaism also provides scriptural support for aliens. In the Book of Judges (5:23), Deborah the prophetess sings about the victory of Barak over Sisera. In her song, she says, “Cursed be Meroz! Cursed, cursed be its inhabitants, says the angel of God!” The Talmud gives two explanations, one of them being that Meroz is a star or planet.
Some of the discussion presented in this book is somewhat imaginative since aliens may have different biology. Many astrobiologists suggest that their biological makeup could be radically different and if they ever find us, their needs are totally different. They could even be advanced computer machines that may have overtaken the living beings that created them. Looking for spirituality in these “life” forms is probably a long shot. Many experts have cautioned, notably cosmologist Stephen Hawing that aliens would not be good for mankind. If aliens invade this planet, most likely they will be looking for a permanent home in the universe since their own planet was destroyed. Such beings would not be eager to share resources of earth with human beings who will be seen as competitors or worse enemies. Professor Weintraub provides a glimpse of how established religions see aliens, and this is perhaps fascinating for readers interested in religion and aliens forms.
ET and the religion (four stars)
This is an interesting work of Vanderbilt University Professor David Weintraub in which he discusses aliens and religion. Many aspects of our interaction with aliens have been discussed in literature, on cable TV and other media. In this book, the author looks at another topic that has been overlooked, that is, how does earth based religions would deal with the discovery of aliens on a distant planet? What are the positions of scriptures with regards to life elsewhere? How do we introduce our religions to them? Do they have interest in spirituality, if yes; do they have their own religion?
Astronomers have always said that there are billions of planets in the universe and astronomer Frank Drake proposed a formula to calculate the number of planets with potentially advanced life forms, and his formula suggests that there are about 10,000 planets in Milky Way galaxy alone! About 1800 planets have been discovered so far and more being detected, with the launching of NASA’s Kepler mission and European Space Agency (ESA)’s GAIA mission. With future missions like Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to be launched in 2017, and James Webb Space Telescope (planned launching in 2018), the probability of finding aliens is significant and near. In fact some astrobiologists claim that aliens had contact with ancient humans in the past; but this is largely speculative.
Christians believe if aliens have committed sin, then they have to accept Jesus as the savior. Evangelical Christians believe that we are God’s favorite children and would not easily accommodate the notion that aliens are also god’s favorite creatures. According to Genesis 1:14-19; God withheld the creation of the Sun, Moon and stars until the fourth day. Earth is always depicted as the center stage in God's Creation.
Hinduism and Buddhism are the most accommodating faiths since both religions believe in reincarnation. In principal, one could be reincarnated anywhere in the universe. The ancient Hindu scripture, RgVeda is especially supportive of the idea that aliens exist as illustrated in RgVeda 10.72.1 and 10.129.6. Judaism also provides scriptural support for aliens. In the Book of Judges (5:23), Deborah the prophetess sings about the victory of Barak over Sisera. In her song, she says, “Cursed be Meroz! Cursed, cursed be its inhabitants, says the angel of God!” The Talmud gives two explanations, one of them being that Meroz is a star or planet.
Some of the discussion presented in this book is somewhat imaginative since aliens may have different biology. Many astrobiologists suggest that their biological makeup could be radically different and if they ever find us, their needs are totally different. They could even be advanced computer machines that may have overtaken the living beings that created them. Looking for spirituality in these “life” forms is probably a long shot. Many experts have cautioned, notably cosmologist Stephen Hawing that aliens would not be good for mankind. If aliens invade this planet, most likely they will be looking for a permanent home in the universe since their own planet was destroyed. Such beings would not be eager to share resources of earth with human beings who will be seen as competitors or worse enemies. Professor Weintraub provides a glimpse of how established religions see aliens, and this is perhaps fascinating for readers interested in religion and aliens forms.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Book Reviewed: Questioning Islam: Tough Questions & Honest Answers About the Muslim Religion by Peter Townsend
Book Reviewed: Questioning Islam: Tough Questions & Honest Answers About the Muslim Religion by Peter Townsend
This is an outstanding work of Peter Townsend, a highly respected scholar examines the Islamic scriptures to evaluate and determine the truth about this faith. Work of this kind is extremely important in light of growing influence of terror groups like Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Al Qaeda, Khorasan, Taliban, Al Shabab, Boko Haram and many others. The security and integrity of United Sates and many Western countries are seriously threated with growing Islamic population and their influence. Much of terrorism is perpetrated in the name of Islam, but many politicians, community leaders and academics shy away from criticizing Islam for the fear being called "Islamophobic." Is there anything we can question about the teachings of Muhammad? In this book we have a brave scholar who is bold enough to ask basic questions and investigate in an academic fashion and without bias, the source books that created Islamic doctrine; the holy book of Quran, hadith (traditions), biography of Muhammad and the ancient history of Middle East.
This study reveals that Islam is standing on a very shaky theological and historical foundation. Muhammad did not have any moral standing or a good conduct worthy of a prophet. He had 13 wives; many of them were wives at the same time (sister-wives), and one of them was a nine year old girl. If he is married to a nine year old girl, could we call him a pedophile? How could we call him a prophet who encourages men to wed young under-aged women?
Hadith, which are a collection of historical documents that describes Muhammad's teachings and traditions, from several generations after his death is a suspect and most likely altered historical document. The book of Quran has undergone much modification over the last 1,400 years. Quran mentions Muhammad four times (Quran 3:144; 33:40; 47:2; and 48:29), and the literature of Sira that describes the life and works of Muhammad written in 8th and 9th century is completely lost.
Recently many politicians in both United States and abroad have called Islam a religion of peace? Is it true? After reading this book, we learn that this is a religion which encourages a high degree of intolerance to other belief systems; other faiths and cultures: This proves to be religion of piece not peace. How can we use the word peace that supports beheadings, rape, destruction of non-Islamic faiths and the establishment of global Islamic caliphate? Atrocities committed against Christians, Kurds, and other non-Islamic populations in Iraq and Syria speaks volumes about the followers of this faith.
This is an outstanding work of Peter Townsend, a highly respected scholar examines the Islamic scriptures to evaluate and determine the truth about this faith. Work of this kind is extremely important in light of growing influence of terror groups like Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Al Qaeda, Khorasan, Taliban, Al Shabab, Boko Haram and many others. The security and integrity of United Sates and many Western countries are seriously threated with growing Islamic population and their influence. Much of terrorism is perpetrated in the name of Islam, but many politicians, community leaders and academics shy away from criticizing Islam for the fear being called "Islamophobic." Is there anything we can question about the teachings of Muhammad? In this book we have a brave scholar who is bold enough to ask basic questions and investigate in an academic fashion and without bias, the source books that created Islamic doctrine; the holy book of Quran, hadith (traditions), biography of Muhammad and the ancient history of Middle East.
This study reveals that Islam is standing on a very shaky theological and historical foundation. Muhammad did not have any moral standing or a good conduct worthy of a prophet. He had 13 wives; many of them were wives at the same time (sister-wives), and one of them was a nine year old girl. If he is married to a nine year old girl, could we call him a pedophile? How could we call him a prophet who encourages men to wed young under-aged women?
Hadith, which are a collection of historical documents that describes Muhammad's teachings and traditions, from several generations after his death is a suspect and most likely altered historical document. The book of Quran has undergone much modification over the last 1,400 years. Quran mentions Muhammad four times (Quran 3:144; 33:40; 47:2; and 48:29), and the literature of Sira that describes the life and works of Muhammad written in 8th and 9th century is completely lost.
Recently many politicians in both United States and abroad have called Islam a religion of peace? Is it true? After reading this book, we learn that this is a religion which encourages a high degree of intolerance to other belief systems; other faiths and cultures: This proves to be religion of piece not peace. How can we use the word peace that supports beheadings, rape, destruction of non-Islamic faiths and the establishment of global Islamic caliphate? Atrocities committed against Christians, Kurds, and other non-Islamic populations in Iraq and Syria speaks volumes about the followers of this faith.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)