Aesthetics and opposites
Continuing with the stream of thought that sought to examines the lives of people whose curiosity made them non-violent, this blog will examine the life of British scientist Paul Dirac. In the scientific community Dirac is widely acknowledged to be the greatest physicist of the twentieth century after Einstein. But he was a notoriously shy person and unlike the fuzzy haired celebrity scientist, Dirac remains unknown to most of the general public. The Institute of Physics in England was compelled to come out with a series of cartoons which were of Japanese (might I say obviously) style in order to boost Dirac’s recognition. The cartoons and the strategy are quite excellent and would make the soul of any self respecting ad agency professional (who is probably toying with PowerPoint at this very instant) swell up with pride.
Paul Dirac was a great believer in aesthetics. In his equations, he put together disparate elements, so that they sounded and appeared beautiful to his senses and after having done this proceeded to see if they made sense.
A duck, a duck
Goes cuck-koo, cuck-koo and a string
Plays a sound like a
Ripple in circular water
In this manner using Einstein’s theory of special relativity and quantum mechanics (discussed earlier in this forum, a quanta being a small packet of energy), Dirac formulated an equation. The equation resonated harmonically with the artist within his soul and he was convinced that the equation was right. After puzzling over the complexities present in the equation Dirac came to the conclusion that there had to exist another type of particle that had the same mass as an electron. This particle had to be positively charged (the electron carries a negative charge). In this manner, long before Captain Kirk had even learnt to read the New York Times, Dirac had invented antimatter.
From the website of the Institute of Physics, we come to know that antimatter is the most expensive stuff on earth costing $62.5 million trillion dollars a gram (shipping is extra). Less than one sixth of a gram of antimatter is made every year. With one gram of antimatter, you could drive a car for 100,000 years. So George Bush and his next 1,500 generations could drive down to Camp David in the same car propelled in such a manner.
Dirac also discovered much of the physics on which many of our devices work such as mobile phones (though he would certainly balk at Sprint’s “freedom” plans.) Dirac also formulated the string theory which is very much in vogue today. The theory says that everything essentially consists of tiny bits of string. There is no experimental evidence to bear this theory out, but the beauty inherent in the equation convinced Dirac and future generations of physicists that it must be true.
And can anyone dare to doubt the man who argued that in all fundamental physical equations, there lies an inherent mathematical beauty?
There is matter. As there is antimatter. It would be interesting to find out as to why in the course of evolution matter triumphed. The important thing though is that it is absolutely essential that both of them exist.
Aesthetically and otherwise.
An article on Dirac
Another article on Dirac
Continuing with the stream of thought that sought to examines the lives of people whose curiosity made them non-violent, this blog will examine the life of British scientist Paul Dirac. In the scientific community Dirac is widely acknowledged to be the greatest physicist of the twentieth century after Einstein. But he was a notoriously shy person and unlike the fuzzy haired celebrity scientist, Dirac remains unknown to most of the general public. The Institute of Physics in England was compelled to come out with a series of cartoons which were of Japanese (might I say obviously) style in order to boost Dirac’s recognition. The cartoons and the strategy are quite excellent and would make the soul of any self respecting ad agency professional (who is probably toying with PowerPoint at this very instant) swell up with pride.
Paul Dirac was a great believer in aesthetics. In his equations, he put together disparate elements, so that they sounded and appeared beautiful to his senses and after having done this proceeded to see if they made sense.
A duck, a duck
Goes cuck-koo, cuck-koo and a string
Plays a sound like a
Ripple in circular water
In this manner using Einstein’s theory of special relativity and quantum mechanics (discussed earlier in this forum, a quanta being a small packet of energy), Dirac formulated an equation. The equation resonated harmonically with the artist within his soul and he was convinced that the equation was right. After puzzling over the complexities present in the equation Dirac came to the conclusion that there had to exist another type of particle that had the same mass as an electron. This particle had to be positively charged (the electron carries a negative charge). In this manner, long before Captain Kirk had even learnt to read the New York Times, Dirac had invented antimatter.
From the website of the Institute of Physics, we come to know that antimatter is the most expensive stuff on earth costing $62.5 million trillion dollars a gram (shipping is extra). Less than one sixth of a gram of antimatter is made every year. With one gram of antimatter, you could drive a car for 100,000 years. So George Bush and his next 1,500 generations could drive down to Camp David in the same car propelled in such a manner.
Dirac also discovered much of the physics on which many of our devices work such as mobile phones (though he would certainly balk at Sprint’s “freedom” plans.) Dirac also formulated the string theory which is very much in vogue today. The theory says that everything essentially consists of tiny bits of string. There is no experimental evidence to bear this theory out, but the beauty inherent in the equation convinced Dirac and future generations of physicists that it must be true.
And can anyone dare to doubt the man who argued that in all fundamental physical equations, there lies an inherent mathematical beauty?
There is matter. As there is antimatter. It would be interesting to find out as to why in the course of evolution matter triumphed. The important thing though is that it is absolutely essential that both of them exist.
Aesthetically and otherwise.
An article on Dirac
Another article on Dirac
The Uncertainty Principle
As explained yesterday, for a brief period of time we shall abandon the state of my life or that of the world, which are each made up of several violent fragments. We will instead focus on people who immersed themselves totally in work that dealt with trying to understand nature. Having no time or use for judgment, these people embodied the principles of non-violence.
This happened a long, long time ago. The world had for long survived on the physics of Newton. The laws set forth by Newton had become irrevocable truths. If you went to a bar and said that Newton’s laws of gravitation or motion were correct for all objects and expected a girl to be impressed, the chances were that you would be disappointed. Everyone knew that as far as Physics went, Newton was the main man, the source of the river, the head on which the fountain of truth rested. You might as well have said that the grass is green.
It was only when Einstein came forward and showed that maybe the grass is not green. It is only the leprechauns that make it appear so. Einstein’s theories turned around not only the world of physics, but also the way we live and think why we live completely. But to write about Einstein and his contribution (assuming that one understood it all) would be like showing someone the sun and saying: “Look carefully, there is light.”
Today’s posting will deal with a man whose findings personify the courage to stand alone. Heisenberg was a scientist whose theories on quantum mechanics were controversial from the very start. His advisor recognized this streak in him and placed him in a fluid mechanics lab. But his spirits could not be dampened.
It was at a time when the old quantum theory was to make way for a new one. (A quantum is a packet of energy). The old theory formulated by Niels Bohr (which for those who are interested said that electrons not only orbit the nucleus but also exist in different energy states and either emit or absorb energy when jumping to lower or higher levels) was fine and dandy, but could not explain many things such as emission and absorption of light and predicted the behavior of atoms and molecules incorrectly.
Heisenberg said enough is enough. There is a limit to the amount of nonsense that a man can take. His work took him into a branch of Physics and Math (that dealt with matrices, and anyone who has seen the second instalment of the movie can tell that it is all very complicated.) He abandoned the more popular wave theory that was in fashion at the time. He pulled up his socks, rolled up his sleeves, by some reports scratched his forehead and set to work. He worked backwards and progressed from an experimental setting to theory formulation in that order.
There were some gaps that kept coming up in his findings. Was it the fault of those sloppy people that took the readings? Heisenberg showed a humanitarian streak to his personality. He refused to pin the blame on human beings. Instead assumed the thinking pose so favored by Shakespeare for his book covers and formulated the uncertainty principle.
This principle said that it was impossible to know both the position and speed of an electron. The more you know about the speed, the less you know about the position and vice versa. If Speed was represented A, and position denoted by B, then A times B would not be AB. If you knew the speed of a particle, it could pass through two different holes at the same instant in time (because we are uncertain of the position). This was shown to be true and the experimenters were labelled as “scientists” and disbanded from the School of Magic.
One of the founding principles of modern physics says that if you are uncertain, then there is no need to go home, switch on the TV, turn off the lamp and mope. It is quite all right. Put on your best shoes, ruffle your hair and walk down to the bar that is frequented by the likes of Heisenberg.
Non violence says that it is good, even essential to be confident. That is indeed the case. However, the uncertainty principle- that also has philosophical ramifications – shows us that it is good to be confident that there is a lot out there which we cannot even begin to fathom.
It gives us a reason to be humble.
As explained yesterday, for a brief period of time we shall abandon the state of my life or that of the world, which are each made up of several violent fragments. We will instead focus on people who immersed themselves totally in work that dealt with trying to understand nature. Having no time or use for judgment, these people embodied the principles of non-violence.
This happened a long, long time ago. The world had for long survived on the physics of Newton. The laws set forth by Newton had become irrevocable truths. If you went to a bar and said that Newton’s laws of gravitation or motion were correct for all objects and expected a girl to be impressed, the chances were that you would be disappointed. Everyone knew that as far as Physics went, Newton was the main man, the source of the river, the head on which the fountain of truth rested. You might as well have said that the grass is green.
It was only when Einstein came forward and showed that maybe the grass is not green. It is only the leprechauns that make it appear so. Einstein’s theories turned around not only the world of physics, but also the way we live and think why we live completely. But to write about Einstein and his contribution (assuming that one understood it all) would be like showing someone the sun and saying: “Look carefully, there is light.”
Today’s posting will deal with a man whose findings personify the courage to stand alone. Heisenberg was a scientist whose theories on quantum mechanics were controversial from the very start. His advisor recognized this streak in him and placed him in a fluid mechanics lab. But his spirits could not be dampened.
It was at a time when the old quantum theory was to make way for a new one. (A quantum is a packet of energy). The old theory formulated by Niels Bohr (which for those who are interested said that electrons not only orbit the nucleus but also exist in different energy states and either emit or absorb energy when jumping to lower or higher levels) was fine and dandy, but could not explain many things such as emission and absorption of light and predicted the behavior of atoms and molecules incorrectly.
Heisenberg said enough is enough. There is a limit to the amount of nonsense that a man can take. His work took him into a branch of Physics and Math (that dealt with matrices, and anyone who has seen the second instalment of the movie can tell that it is all very complicated.) He abandoned the more popular wave theory that was in fashion at the time. He pulled up his socks, rolled up his sleeves, by some reports scratched his forehead and set to work. He worked backwards and progressed from an experimental setting to theory formulation in that order.
There were some gaps that kept coming up in his findings. Was it the fault of those sloppy people that took the readings? Heisenberg showed a humanitarian streak to his personality. He refused to pin the blame on human beings. Instead assumed the thinking pose so favored by Shakespeare for his book covers and formulated the uncertainty principle.
This principle said that it was impossible to know both the position and speed of an electron. The more you know about the speed, the less you know about the position and vice versa. If Speed was represented A, and position denoted by B, then A times B would not be AB. If you knew the speed of a particle, it could pass through two different holes at the same instant in time (because we are uncertain of the position). This was shown to be true and the experimenters were labelled as “scientists” and disbanded from the School of Magic.
One of the founding principles of modern physics says that if you are uncertain, then there is no need to go home, switch on the TV, turn off the lamp and mope. It is quite all right. Put on your best shoes, ruffle your hair and walk down to the bar that is frequented by the likes of Heisenberg.
Non violence says that it is good, even essential to be confident. That is indeed the case. However, the uncertainty principle- that also has philosophical ramifications – shows us that it is good to be confident that there is a lot out there which we cannot even begin to fathom.
It gives us a reason to be humble.
Haiti revisited
This blog is updated more often than a Haitian donkey eats a square meal. But that is not saying much.
I was in Haiti again. This is partly the reason why the blog has not been updated for five days. However in today's day and age, when there is a will there is an Internet connection. This blog could have been updated.
So there has to be some other reason. I think that it has do with the fact that I have been in a state of mind not even remotely approaching non violence. If bitterness were a pack of seagulls then I have been carrying a particularly tasty piece of fish on my head for most of the last week.
Hence starting tomorrow, we will live the whole non violence philosophy vicariously. We will look at people who have spent their lives in the pursuit of works that are above criticism by virtue of the one attribute prized in a bottle of water: purity. These include mathematicians, physicists and yes, even artists.
All one can do at this point is to wait for the sun to rise.
This blog is updated more often than a Haitian donkey eats a square meal. But that is not saying much.
I was in Haiti again. This is partly the reason why the blog has not been updated for five days. However in today's day and age, when there is a will there is an Internet connection. This blog could have been updated.
So there has to be some other reason. I think that it has do with the fact that I have been in a state of mind not even remotely approaching non violence. If bitterness were a pack of seagulls then I have been carrying a particularly tasty piece of fish on my head for most of the last week.
Hence starting tomorrow, we will live the whole non violence philosophy vicariously. We will look at people who have spent their lives in the pursuit of works that are above criticism by virtue of the one attribute prized in a bottle of water: purity. These include mathematicians, physicists and yes, even artists.
All one can do at this point is to wait for the sun to rise.
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