Wednesday, June 02, 2004
They did that when??
I am always amazed when I read science books. Take the Asimov one I am reading presently: The Planet That Wasn't. It is basically a collection of his essays that appeared in publications on a variety of topics, but in each one he goes into roughly the same level of detail in his explanations of things. This usually entails talking about the major discoverers of scientific innovations that had a profound impact on the world, and I am always struck by the dates cited.
Newton's discovery of the visible spectrum was published in 1704. Neptune was discovered using mathematics and the Universal Law of Gravity in 1843. Spectroscopy was developed in the 1850s. All this just seems incredulous to me. I mean, we think we're advanced, right? We consider ourselves to have moved beyond the technological and intellectual levels of 150 years ago. And yet, here we are, in the 21st century. We know all about what our predecessors do and can search for knowledge far better than they could. Still, I have the impression that we haven't done nearly anything close to that noteworthy. Where are our discoveries that will lay out the road map for imaginings of the future?
It can't be that there isn't anything to discover. The Universe is too big, too deep, too rich with stuff for that. The level of cosms is simply mind-boggling - no matter how far you go, there's always another level. I mean, if you start here at the person level, you can go back out through the cities, regions, nations, planets, systems, sectors and galaxies, but still you end up at more galaxies, and even theorized galaxies of galaxies, and bigger still ad infinitum! Conversely, we go down to the microscopic, through the cellular, to molecules and atoms and neutrons to quarks and even smaller still to fermions and such. Who knows if there is anything smaller still?
No, there is still much left to discover, so why do I feel we haven't scratched the surface of it? I suppose it could be because I'm learning all this in hindsight. Time seems so much more compressed when viewed in retrospective, so maybe what we're doing now is not unlike what they did then. Maybe this is normal, or perhaps it is simply the fact that this is all still new to me, and if I crunch the information some more it will all settle and fall into place.
The other thing that strikes me is that maybe we just aren't told. You must admit that scientific discoveries aren't exactly breaking news these days. Nobody cares, and because nobody wants to know, we aren't told. The media makes big money on giving us what we want, since that keeps us coming back for more, and money is made. I don't want to suggest there is a conspiracy or anything that is keeping knowledge from us (although I'm sure I could whip one up for you if you asked...) but it still makes you wonder.
Perhaps it is the scale that these discoveries are to be made at. Newton was able to play with glass. Can we no longer do the same? Must we move to grander (or more miniscule) scales with which to find new things to figure out? With the way the world works these days, is it a question of funding? When one needs millions of dollars to simply investigate the possibility of learning something new, it's no wonder that these epiphanies are few and far between.
Or maybe it is the social situation. Maybe we are just too self-centered to try and explore the big picture, too busy trying to get the next paycheque or promotion, or worrying about the movie times next Friday. Somewhat disheartening to consider, but still worth considering.
I'm going to stop now before I start getting depressed. Was something to think about. Nothing more.
¶ 12:36 a.m.
I am always amazed when I read science books. Take the Asimov one I am reading presently: The Planet That Wasn't. It is basically a collection of his essays that appeared in publications on a variety of topics, but in each one he goes into roughly the same level of detail in his explanations of things. This usually entails talking about the major discoverers of scientific innovations that had a profound impact on the world, and I am always struck by the dates cited.
Newton's discovery of the visible spectrum was published in 1704. Neptune was discovered using mathematics and the Universal Law of Gravity in 1843. Spectroscopy was developed in the 1850s. All this just seems incredulous to me. I mean, we think we're advanced, right? We consider ourselves to have moved beyond the technological and intellectual levels of 150 years ago. And yet, here we are, in the 21st century. We know all about what our predecessors do and can search for knowledge far better than they could. Still, I have the impression that we haven't done nearly anything close to that noteworthy. Where are our discoveries that will lay out the road map for imaginings of the future?
It can't be that there isn't anything to discover. The Universe is too big, too deep, too rich with stuff for that. The level of cosms is simply mind-boggling - no matter how far you go, there's always another level. I mean, if you start here at the person level, you can go back out through the cities, regions, nations, planets, systems, sectors and galaxies, but still you end up at more galaxies, and even theorized galaxies of galaxies, and bigger still ad infinitum! Conversely, we go down to the microscopic, through the cellular, to molecules and atoms and neutrons to quarks and even smaller still to fermions and such. Who knows if there is anything smaller still?
No, there is still much left to discover, so why do I feel we haven't scratched the surface of it? I suppose it could be because I'm learning all this in hindsight. Time seems so much more compressed when viewed in retrospective, so maybe what we're doing now is not unlike what they did then. Maybe this is normal, or perhaps it is simply the fact that this is all still new to me, and if I crunch the information some more it will all settle and fall into place.
The other thing that strikes me is that maybe we just aren't told. You must admit that scientific discoveries aren't exactly breaking news these days. Nobody cares, and because nobody wants to know, we aren't told. The media makes big money on giving us what we want, since that keeps us coming back for more, and money is made. I don't want to suggest there is a conspiracy or anything that is keeping knowledge from us (although I'm sure I could whip one up for you if you asked...) but it still makes you wonder.
Perhaps it is the scale that these discoveries are to be made at. Newton was able to play with glass. Can we no longer do the same? Must we move to grander (or more miniscule) scales with which to find new things to figure out? With the way the world works these days, is it a question of funding? When one needs millions of dollars to simply investigate the possibility of learning something new, it's no wonder that these epiphanies are few and far between.
Or maybe it is the social situation. Maybe we are just too self-centered to try and explore the big picture, too busy trying to get the next paycheque or promotion, or worrying about the movie times next Friday. Somewhat disheartening to consider, but still worth considering.
I'm going to stop now before I start getting depressed. Was something to think about. Nothing more.
¶ 12:36 a.m.
