 The Columbia prof and his Little Golden Book of black holes. |
It takes a special talent to make science sound as cool to the layperson as it really is. Perhaps that’s because much of what makes up “science” is incomprehensible tables of mathematical formulae and hours of mundane, routine grunt work.
So these “popularizers” are important people: They get the next generation hooked on the conceptual beauty of the sciences. Then again, Richard Dawkins, one of the world’s best known scientists, is more famous for disliking God than coming up with the “selfish meme” theory. If there is anyone who can challenge Dawkins’ title, it’s Columbia University string theorist, Dr. Brian Greene.
Greene—who will speak Thursday night at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall as part of the Linus Pauling Lecture Series—is the rightful heir to Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking. Through his books and his TV specials, he seeks to makes the strangest, most incomprehensible, and yet most breathtakingly sublime wing of science accessible to the average person. His task is nothing less than to understand the true nature of life, the universe and everything, and bring all of us along for the ride.
His books, The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos, were targeted at adults, but his newest, Icarus at the Edge of Time (Knopf, 34 pages, $19.95), is sort of a Little Golden Book of black holes.
In 34 short pages, the big, glossy board book tells the story of the brash young Icarus, passenger on the Proxima, a ship full of humans headed for the Proxima Centauri star system, where an Earth-like planet has been observed to be transmitting radio signals. The problem? It will take five generations to reach the distant star, and Icarus is only generation four. He was born on the Proxima¸ and he fears he will die on the Proxima.
When the ship unexpectedly comes across a black hole, the precocious Icarus, who is also a fantastic pilot, begs his father to let him take a scout ship out to investigate. What follows is a lesson in the strange consequences of relativity theory that even a child could understand.
The book is simply beautiful, with pictures consisting almost entirely of images of deep space taken from our most powerful telescopes. At the center of each pair of pages is a little black dot that gradually grows as Icarus approaches the black hole, and then shrinks as he moves away. It’s a nice touch, though at the book’s midpoint, when the dot expands to virtually cover some pages, it does obscure what would otherwise be magnificent photos.
At a time when America’s students are falling behind their global counterparts in the sciences at an alarming rate, I think we can all thank God there’s somebody like Brian Greene to keep the kids interested…even if we’re Richard Dawkins.
GO:Dr. Brian Greene appears at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1111 SW Broadway, 248-4335. 7 pm Thursday, Nov. 13. $45-$55 ($38.25-$46.75 for students and seniors). Tickets through Ticketmaster, at the PCPA Box Office, or by calling 232-2300.
Dawkins cannot dislike God because it does not exist. In the same way we do not dislike unicorns just because we claim they are mythical creatures.
However, this is a good review and I am tempted to take a look at this book when I have the time.
There are 100 million fossils which show that animals which lived hundreds of million years ago are exactly the same as their current counterparts. This is clear evidence "against evolution."
Also, natural selection does not have the capacity to change the genetic code on the DNA. The rabbits may run faster, and survive but they do not turn out to be other "more advanced" and "advantageous" creature because their DNA code is not effected. They die in the end along with their faster running legs. Lamarckism is already an outdated theory.
Therefore, creation is a fact, evolution could not have happened. Besides, no graduation can explain the irreducible complexity in for instance body organs. Think of the blood, if all blood cells had presumably evolved without the hemoglobin molecule inside, what use? If the stomach did not have the protective tissue to prevent destroying itself due to hydrocholoric acid, what use? If all organs were there but you could not breathe with your lungs and the oxygen was not transferred to each one of your cells, what use?
Please think once again before you decide. Evolution - really did not happen, cannot have happened - there is no evidence, no mechanism. But all findings and science indeed show that there is an anthropic principle behind the universe with incredibly fine tuned quarks in the atom, nuclear power in the nucleus of the atom, 3 billion lettered vast library with immense information in the DNA.
Who encoded the DNA?
Who made the quarks in the atom?
Who set the oxygen in the atmosphere just in the right ratio so that we are not burnt to death?
Who mixed water - soil and minerals to bring out thousands of vegetation and fruit with wonderful tastes and scents right from the dark earth?
God is the Creator of every detail that we see in this universe, and we will see the intelligence and wisdom behind each and every created thing if we look with an open eye (heart).