Sir Fred Hoyle (1915-2001), British astronomer and mathematician, one side of the jet-set-century scientific XX, was author of a couple of theories minority (if not proscribed) who doggedly defended without losing the esteem of his colleagues, as their contribution to science was very much varied. One theory of the universe was stable, as opposed to the dominant theory of the expanding universe with a Big Bag earlier. " If we are to believe the miracle of creation from nothing at one time, why not believe the miracle of creation of matter from nothing all the time? " he joked. In the theory of stable universe that existed forever, there is also expansion (and deny it?), But the gaps are filled with new matter continuously created and the general appearance of a large scale is always the same. Hoyle died without knowing the flood of confirmations of the rival theory. It objected to the background radiation the universe was very homogeneous, which did not provide the specific which were to be later in galaxies. Shortly after 2000 the peculariaridades were detected after splitting noise of all kinds and George Smoot won in 2006 a Nobel in physics for that. With a friend, the gentleman Hermida-think, however, Hoyle was ultimately right, because now predominate theories of multiple universes ('d be in a "multiverse"), where each had its Big Bag: that and say that universe existed forever the same.
The other, developed with his colleague Chandra Wickramasinghe was the origin of "space" of life: life, he says, not only is common in the universe, but originates in interstellar space and spread from there via cometary agents. Lease "Cosmic life force" (Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe, 1988 in English, 1992 in Castilian by Fondo de Cultura Economica, Mexico). The title turned me suspicious new age (English is not going to lag: The Power of Life) but I read it. To say that Hoyle with evidence of the most diverse fields: from the infrared spectroscopy of interstellar clouds (which show signatures identical to terrestrial microorganisms infrared spectroscopy) to the comparison of plots of normal diffusion of the virus in British populations (starting from a center) against abnormal diffusion graph: the diffusion is simultaneously over wide geographical areas! As if the virus (influenza) literally had fallen from space, and other evidence, the difficulties to sterilize spacecraft, the presence of microorganisms in the most hostile environments, the abundance of meteorites with microscopic structures similar to fossil organisms (such as ALH84001 found in Antarctica), although unexplained, etc.
Based on this theory, or maybe a seed of that theory in 1957, Hoyle, who was also author of science fiction, published "The black cloud." This story has had the distinction to be included in reading lists of subjects of astronomy in the Anglo-Saxon universities. The action takes place in 1964 and today some readers have felt that history is a bit old because they use computers to valves and punched tape. How to read "The Count of Monte Cristo "and also the subject that is a bit old because they are used muskets, foils and sail boats.
A cloud of gas, the size of Earth's orbit arrives and hides the sun, causing a disturbance and climate global catastrophe. The situation is similar to a nuclear winter, with temperatures 40 degrees below zero and the sun become a red glow in the sky, with days that almost no different nights.
travez The story goes on the classically casual Hollywood stages of discovery, monitoring approach, the contention and argument of their nature and effects that could provoke bad relations between academic centers and politicians (as they had to inform governments imminent danger), the arrival of the cloud and its real effects (everything was worse than expected) and the discovery that the cloud ... was not a simple volume of organic gases.
a pamphlet can also be glimpsed class scientific and intellectually superior class against class politics, improvised and corrupt. The main plot revolves around freedom of information, since most of the calamities of history are caused by keeping secrets. Hoyle argues that keeping secrets in the alleged benefit of the social order is ultimately more harm to disseminate information from the beginning.
By the way, seems to be a letter of introduction born social scientist with the common man, which prompted some tolerance. Hoyle shows how the main character, Chris Kingsley typically eccentric scientist can also be a little skull, plus bon vivant. Hoyle certainly learned firsthand that most people do not respect or believe that you are human, or it interesting without these characteristics.
nice also is a nationalist protest against American cousins. Nice because basically, admires. Insists that Americans are a strong gross, as opposed to the British, with fewer economic resources, but with greater intellectual domain.
Finally, it is also an interesting little details POTPOURRI of which from time to time Aguná Boyan aphorisms "Only it's prediction in science " as widespread criticism of the attitude of making explanations quite tight to the facts, that an explanation should do more than fit the facts, must make predictions ... or die trying, a theory must risk ("putting on his shirt" he says) and only risks can be useful, it must express more than what was asked, should generate more than the observed facts. Of course, this attitude is very limited because it involves professional risks for the author as the same Hoyle ran. Other: "Nature does not produce individual pieces" (or almost the words of Aristotle: "There is no science of the particular"), meaning that any natural object is not but a variant of a widespread pattern, except you, madam, of course, is unique and unrepeatable.
with Hoyle, the question of the possibility of telepathy or not (who need telepathy with the ubiquitous cell phones?) Remained banal clarified in a nutshell:
- What does it mean for you, Ann? (Telepathy)
-able to direct one's thoughts without speaking, of course without writing or signing or anything like that. (...)
"That means using a radio propagation" said Leicester, and radio propagation means using alternating currents and not voltages and DC currents used in our brains. "But
I thought we were capable of some degree of telepathy - Parkinson suggested.
-Nonsense. Our brains simply do not work properly for telepathy. Everything is based on DC voltages and radio broadcast is impossible in this way.
who wants to understand who understands ...
We also find some good ideas for cooking other arguments:
-> A character reveals: "The suspicion is that there is an absolute obstacle for the communication of information relating to the deep problems. It seems as if any intelligence that attempts to acquire that information is isolated in space, that is, the space is closed around so that no communication of any kind may with others of a similar hierarchy. "This could create a beautiful cosmic conspiracy against insight.
-> What if the subnormal Joe Stoddard had sat the communicator designed by The Cloud? Maybe the story" Flowers for Algernon "about a retard who is stimulated at higher intellectual development and finally decides to be" real "and abandon the treatment, found his inspiration here.
-> What if the cloud had collapsed before the onslaught of the giddy Yankees? The decadent humanity had fallen into a new ice age, but rather ice-IV, with the atmosphere and a habitat necessarily solidified underground: here we have the ingredients for a series of enabling long haul.
As a practical man, Hoyle never worry about the aesthetics of literature, and so his prose has the grace of the logbook of a municipal actors, their characters lack pathologies (-educated people also starved of venality and sleaze-contempt by "dimensional"), their stories are peppered with harsh highlights, and are focused on facts and not the style.
Links:
http://digital.el-esceptico.org/leer.php?id=159&autor=3&tema=2
0 comments:
Post a Comment