Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow on the Grand Design

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow on the Grand Design Book Reviews this if they are to make a significant con- before the creation’ (50). However, then tribution to the interface between science he says, ‘That is a possible model, which and faith. The rather good bibliography is favoured by those who maintain that at the end of this book would be a guide the account given in Genesis is literally to the competition – there are some excel- true’, but the big bang theory is ‘more lent books in this area already. Not rec- useful’, even though neither model is ommended. ‘more real than the other’ (50-51). This is deeply confusing not least because (a) Paul Wraight has retired from teach- Augustine himself did not take Genesis ing physics and electronics at literally, and (b) Augustine’s view is Aberdeen University and is thinking entirely compatible with the big bang and writing about design. theory! However, notwithstanding what comes later, Hawking admits at this Stephen Hawking and Leonard point that it is not clear that we can take Mlodinow time back beyond the big bang because The Grand Design: New Answers to the present laws of physics may break the Ultimate Questions of Life down (51). London: Bantam Press, 2010. 200 pp. hb. Hawking informs us that the 219 here- £18.99. ISBN-13 978-0593058299 sies condemned by Bishop Tempier of Paris in 1277 included the idea that This book was notoriously heralded by a nature follows laws, because this would front page splash in The Times headlined conflict with God’s omnipotence (24-25). ‘Hawking: God did not create Universe’. It is true that a prime consideration was The book does indeed make some star- God’s absolute power to do whatever he tling claims, for example: philosophy is wills (and so not to be bound by ‘natural dead and has been superseded by sci- laws’ – if that is even an appropriate ence; M-theory is the ultimate theory of term in this period). However, Hawking everything; the universe creates itself omits to tell us that also condemned were out of nothing – hence God is not needed; the notions that God could not create sev- and a multiverse explains the fine-tun- eral universes or more than 3 dimensions ing. – significant in view of Hawking’s The claim that philosophy is dead is on espousal of these ideas! Pierre Duhem the first page of text (5). Yet most of the and other philosophers have considered subject matter of the book is philosophi- the condemnations as liberating for sci- cal! Only a couple of pages later Hawking ence. says he adopts ‘model-dependent real- Among other philosophical positions ism’, a philosophical position if ever there Hawking adopts are determinism, which was one! Hawking defines his concept by renders miracles impossible, and reduc- saying ‘it is pointless to ask whether a tionism. Echoing Dawkins he writes that model is real, only whether it agrees with ‘it seems that we are no more than bio- observations. If there are two models logical machines and that free will is just that both agree with observation… then an illusion’ (32). Even more significantly, one cannot say that one is more real than Hawking has bought into Wheeler’s ‘it- another.’ (46). This deceptively innocuous from-bit’ interpretation of quantum the- formulation leads to quite bizarre state- ory, namely that we create the history of ments in practice. the universe by observing it (82, 140). He Hawking is not the most reliable guide also interprets the Feynman sum-over- to theology and history. For example, he histories approach to quantum theory in rightly states that St Augustine believed a realist way, so that all possible histories that time is ‘a property of the world that of the universe are real, and we ‘select’ a God created and that time did not exist set of histories, no matter how improba- 80 • Science & Christian Belief, Vol 23, No. 1 Book Reviews ble, which are compatible with our own universe creates itself out of nothing, and existence. Add into this heady mix the if gravity and the laws of nature were no-boundary proposal whereby time responsible, one really would be entitled becomes imaginary (space-like) in the to ask where these come from in the first earliest epoch, which Hawking developed place and the quantum vacuum on which with Jim Hartle, and which appeared in they act. As Hawking himself put it so popular form first in A Brief History of eloquently in A Brief History of Time, Time, and you end up, he says, with a ‘What is it that breathes fire into the universe that has no beginning in time. equations and makes a universe for them Hence you avoid the need to invoke God to describe?’ to light the blue touch paper to set it Hawking describes how our existence going (134, 180) – again, repeating what imposes constraints on the form and con- he said in the earlier book. tent of the laws of nature (155). These Regarding this last point, if time has include Fred Hoyle’s discovery of the con- become space-like (i.e. a fourth space straint on the strong nuclear force neces- dimension) it is very difficult to see how sary for carbon and oxygen, essential for time can ‘flow’ and the universe evolve life, to be manufactured inside stars, and from the 4-space at all. Of course, even if the remarkable fine-tuning, to 1 part in we accept Hawking’s mathematics, we do 10120, of the cosmological constant. not have to accept his philosophy: we can Whereas this might lead in the direction perfectly well accept only real time in the of a new argument from design, Hawking mathematical sense as ontologically real, assures us ‘That is not the answer of and the universe beginning at the point modern science.’ (164, though he confuses where (real) 3-space and real time inter- such an argument with the modern Intel- sect the 4-space where time becomes ligent Design phenomenon in the US.) imaginary; and nor do we have to ontolo- Hawking’s answer is the multiverse, gise all the histories in the Feynman though it is not at all clear either that he sum, merely regard them as a useful cal- has established this or why, even if he culating device. had, that the question would not simply shift from ‘Why this universe?’ to ‘Why Another claim is that ‘M-theory pre- this multiverse?’ Given that M-theory dicts that a great many universes were scarcely qualifies as a theory at all, the created out of nothing. Their creation claim that it is the unique logical possi- does not require the intervention of a bility is highly problematic. supernatural being or god. Rather, these multiple universes arise naturally from This is a book readers of this journal physical law.’ (8-9). There is no mention should read. It is beautifully produced here of the speculative nature of M-the- and written in a deceptively easy style, ory, the overarching generalisation of considering the esoteric subjects with string theory, and that serious questions which it deals, and it is laced with Hawk- have been raised over its lack of predic- ing’s quirky humour. But be prepared to tions and observational or experimental take its exaggerated claims with a large support. That goes particularly for the pinch of salt. claim about many universes. More signif- Rodney Holder is Course Director of icantly, the idea that the universe can the Faraday Institute for Science and create itself out of nothing, as Hawking Religion, St Edmund’s College, Cam- expresses it later, is inherently self-con- bridge. tradictory. Apparently gravity can do the trick because its negative energy bal- ances the positive energy needed to cre- ate matter (180). Contra Hawking, this sleight of hand does not mean that the Science & Christian Belief, Vol 23, No. 1 • 81.
Recommended publications
  • Thomas]. Kaiser When Darwin Theorized About How Man and Other
    SoMETHING FROM NoTHING THIS WAY CoMEs Thomas]. Kaiser When Darwin theorized about how man and other organisms might have evolved, he assumed the existence of the lower life forms and proposed an account ofhow others could have evolved from them. With the advent of cellular and molec­ ular biology evolutionists began to theorize how the lowest life forms might have evolved from inorganic nature. More­ over, scientists now think that the elements themselves are the products of evolution. The heavier elements came into being from lighter elements some time after the big bang about r 3. 7 billion years ago. So the theory of evolution itselfhas evolved from explaining the origin of biological species to the origin of the whole universe. The big bang theory now being widely accepted, the next question is where did the material out of which the elements evolved come from? Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow in their new book, The Grand Design, have answered this question by saying that the cosmos spon­ taneously generated from nothing. According to M-theory, ours is not the only universe. In­ stead, M-theory predicts that a great many universes were created out of nothing. Their creation does not require the Thomas]. Kaiser is a graduate (1975) of Thomas Aquinas College. He earned his C.Phil. from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1980 and completed Ph.D. in Biology in 1986. He has been a tutor at Thomas Aquinas College since 1982. I SoMETHING FROM NoTHING THIS WAY CoMBs Thomas]. Kaiser intervention of some supernatural being or god.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:1202.4545V2 [Physics.Hist-Ph] 23 Aug 2012
    The Relativity of Existence Stuart B. Heinrich [email protected] October 31, 2018 Abstract Despite the success of modern physics in formulating mathematical theories that can predict the outcome of experiments, we have made remarkably little progress towards answering the most fundamental question of: why is there a universe at all, as opposed to nothingness? In this paper, it is shown that this seemingly mind-boggling question has a simple logical answer if we accept that existence in the universe is nothing more than mathematical existence relative to the axioms of our universe. This premise is not baseless; it is shown here that there are indeed several independent strong logical arguments for why we should believe that mathematical existence is the only kind of existence. Moreover, it is shown that, under this premise, the answers to many other puzzling questions about our universe come almost immediately. Among these questions are: why is the universe apparently fine-tuned to be able to support life? Why are the laws of physics so elegant? Why do we have three dimensions of space and one of time, with approximate locality and causality at macroscopic scales? How can the universe be non-local and non-causal at the quantum scale? How can the laws of quantum mechanics rely on true randomness? 1 Introduction can seem astonishing that anything exists” [73, p.24]. Most physicists and cosmologists are equally perplexed. Over the course of modern history, we have seen advances in Richard Dawkins has called it a “searching question that biology, chemistry, physics and cosmology that have painted rightly calls for an explanatory answer” [26, p.155], and Sam an ever-clearer picture of how we came to exist in this uni- Harris says that “any intellectually honest person will admit verse.
    [Show full text]
  • Communications-Mathematics and Applied Mathematics/Download/8110
    A Mathematician's Journey to the Edge of the Universe "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." ― Socrates Manjunath.R #16/1, 8th Main Road, Shivanagar, Rajajinagar, Bangalore560010, Karnataka, India *Corresponding Author Email: [email protected] *Website: http://www.myw3schools.com/ A Mathematician's Journey to the Edge of the Universe What’s the Ultimate Question? Since the dawn of the history of science from Copernicus (who took the details of Ptolemy, and found a way to look at the same construction from a slightly different perspective and discover that the Earth is not the center of the universe) and Galileo to the present, we (a hoard of talking monkeys who's consciousness is from a collection of connected neurons − hammering away on typewriters and by pure chance eventually ranging the values for the (fundamental) numbers that would allow the development of any form of intelligent life) have gazed at the stars and attempted to chart the heavens and still discovering the fundamental laws of nature often get asked: What is Dark Matter? ... What is Dark Energy? ... What Came Before the Big Bang? ... What's Inside a Black Hole? ... Will the universe continue expanding? Will it just stop or even begin to contract? Are We Alone? Beginning at Stonehenge and ending with the current crisis in String Theory, the story of this eternal question to uncover the mysteries of the universe describes a narrative that includes some of the greatest discoveries of all time and leading personalities, including Aristotle, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton, and the rise to the modern era of Einstein, Eddington, and Hawking.
    [Show full text]
  • Conceptual Problems in Cosmology
    Conceptual Problems in Cosmology F. J. Amaral Vieira Departamento de F´ısica, Universidade Estadual Vale do Acara´u(UVA) Avenida Dr. Guarani 317, CEP 62040-730, Sobral, Cear´a,Brazil e-mail: [email protected] (Dated: November 14, 2011) In this essay a critical review of present conceptual problems in current cosmology is provided from a more philosophical point of view. In essence, a digression on how could philosophy help cosmologists in what is strictly their fundamental endeavor is presented. We start by recalling some examples of enduring confrontations among philosophers and physicists on what could be contributed by the formers to the day-time striving of the second ones. Then, a short review of the standard model Friedmann-Lema^ıtre-Robertson-Walter (FLRW) of cosmology is given, since Einsteins days throughout the Hubble discover of the expansion of the universe, the Gamow, Alpher and Herman primordial nucleo-synthesis calculations and prediction of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation; as detected by Penzias and Wilson, to Guth-Linde inflationary scenarios and the controversial multiverse and landscape ideas as prospective way outs to most cosmic conceptual conundrums. It seems apparent that cosmology is living a golden age with the advent of observations of high precision. Nonetheless, a critical revisiting of the direction in which it should go on appears also needed, for misconcepts like \quantum backgrounds for cosmological classical settings" and \quantum gravity unification” have not been properly constructed up-to-date. Thus, knowledge-building in cosmology, more than in any other field, should begin with visions of the reality, then taking technical form whenever concepts and relations inbetween are translated into a mathematical structure.
    [Show full text]
  • Oilman at the Peak of Computers and Satellites to Numeri- Cal Predictions with Supercomputers
    SPRING BOOKS COMMENT towards space observations and develop- ENERGY ing the use of computers in meteorology. From the findings of these three men, Fleming expertly weaves a tapestry of broader developments, from early uses Oilman at the peak of computers and satellites to numeri- cal predictions with supercomputers. He Gregor Macdonald applauds a biography of prescient explores intentional weather modification, geologist and energy theorist Marion King Hubbert. radio­active fallout, rocketry, air pollution and electromagnetism. For example, the air movements made apparent when scientist’s work does not always The Oracle of Oil: A researchers tracked the fallout from intersect neatly with the events of Maverick Geologist’s nuclear-bomb tests in the 1950s provided their time, but that was the good Quest for a Sustainable insight into atmospheric circulation. Afortune of US geologist and oilman Marion Future MASON INMAN The penultimate chapter covers what King Hubbert (1903–89). After labouring W. W. Norton: 2016. Fleming calls the birth of atmospheric for decades to perfect forecasting of the oil- science in the late 1950s, coinciding with production limit, he saw his efforts validated planning for the International Geophysical in the energy crises of the early 1970s. His Year in 1957–58. In 1956, Rossby proposed approach would later be known as Hubbert enlarging the definition of meteorology peak theory. shortage of ambition, Hubbert saw geology as to include elements such as atmospheric Journalist Mason Inman’s meticulous a wide-open field, and gate-crashed it. With chemistry and relevant biological pro- biography The Oracle of Oil follows Hub- precocious brilliance, he began to identify cesses.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evidence of God in Physics
    The Evidence of God in Physics By: Br. Joseph Anoop, FSP Amazing discoveries in physics during the 20th century have revolutionized our understanding of the universe. Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity published in 1915 introduced a totally new scientific perspective to view the world. An analysis of Einstein’s equations led Belgium physicist and Catholic priest George Lemaître to propose in 1927 that our universe is expanding, and it must have its origins in a finite point in time. Known eventually as the Big Bang Theory, the idea that universe had a beginning was met at first with skepticism. However, in 1929 American astronomer Edwin Hubble furnished the first scientific evidence that the universe is expanding based on his observation of galaxies using the giant telescope at Mount Wilson in California. In addition, “The discovery of the microwave radiation by Penzias and Wilson in 1965 also indicated that the universe must have been much denser in the past.”1 Thus Einstein’s equations and Lemaître’s model were confirmed. Under such convincing empirical evidences, the scientific community generally accepted the Big Bang as the best theory to date about the origin of the universe. As the scientists studied the consequence of the Big Bang theory by tracing its origin to a finite point, they realized that a transcendent and omnipotent God is theoretically needed to bring the universe into being. In other words, there should be an outside agency that triggered the bang which started off the expanding universe. However, some scientists attempt to explain the origin without resorting to a God-hypothesis.
    [Show full text]
  • {TEXTBOOK} a Briefer History of Time Kindle
    A BRIEFER HISTORY OF TIME PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Stephen Hawking, Leonard Mlodinow | 176 pages | 01 Oct 2008 | Transworld Publishers Ltd | 9780593056974 | English | London, United Kingdom A Briefer History of Time PDF Book These differences will mean that some individuals are better able than others to draw the right conclusions about the world around them and to act accordingly. This allowed for the measurement of night-time events with a water clock when certain stars crossed the vertical plumb line a 'transit line' , and these events could then be recorded by 'night-time lines' drawn on a sundial. However, they can be seen by telescopes when they suck in other stars, thus emitting x-rays. It turns out to be very difficult to devise a theory to describe the universe all in one go. The main characters of this non fiction, science story are ,. Quantum mechanics, on the other hand, deals with phenomena on extremely small scales, such as a millionth of a millionth of an inch. However, the time between the sun reaching successive meridians is often different from clock time. The big bang, which grew to be the dominant theory of the creation of the universe, is the basis for the third chapter. Plot Summary. The shape of the lamp gradually evolved into the typical pottery style shown. The brighter the star, the nearer to Earth they must be. Nuclear forces unite the quarks into neutrons and protons and keep the neutrons and protons together in atoms. Orion contains some of the brightest stars in the southern part of the winter sky in the northern hemisphere and can be seen later in the southern hemisphere.
    [Show full text]
  • Is Science the Antidote to Deepak Chopra's Spirituality?
    May June pages BOX_SI new design masters 3/29/12 9:04 AM Page 54 [REVIEWS Is Science the Antidote to Deepak Chopra’s Spirituality? MARK ALFORD an skeptics and scientists learn anything from reading a Deepak War of the Worldviews: Science vs. Spirituality. By CChopra book? In this case I think Deepak Chopra and Leonard Mlodinow. Harmony they can. It helps that this book is coau- Books (Random House), New York, 2012. ISBN: thored with Leonard Mlodinow, physi- 978-0307886880. 306 pp. Hardcover, $26. cist, screenwriter, and coauthor with Stephen Hawking of the best seller The Grand Design. (He also received the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry’s Balles Prize for his book on random- ness, The Drunkard’s Walk.) The book is formatted as a debate, each author set- ting out his side and responding to the other. It covers all the big questions: will be “drawn to your side’’ (Chopra, p. ent line, more like a geographical cosmology, life and evolution, the mind 251)? Or does it tell us that under- boundary, that separates science from and brain, and God. Chopra advocates standing one’s essence means “to think metaphysics. Mlodinow steps over this his own brand of spirituality, claiming of myself as a biological machine gov- line when he argues against Chopra’s that the universe is conscious and evolv- erned by the same laws that govern metaphysical castle-building by offer- ing. He presents his spirituality as the Pluto” (Mlodinow, p. 133)? This is a ing a competing metaphysical picture reasonable alternative to the soulless difference of two worldviews, but they that says “No, the evolution of the uni- materialism of his critics.
    [Show full text]
  • Stephen Hawking a Person I Admire
    Stephen Hawking A person I admire By Theodora Kiorpe th Stephen William Hawking was born on the 8 of January 1942 (exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo) in Oxford, England. th He passed away on the 14 of March 2018. He was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author, and director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. Professor Stephen Hawking worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. With Roger Penrose he showed that Einstein's general theory of relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. Another conjecture is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws of science. Hawking began his schooling at the Byron House School in Highgate, London. He later blamed its "progressive methods" for his failure to learn to read while at the school. At the age of eleven, Stephen went to St. Albans School and then on to University College, Oxford (1952); his father's old college. Stephen wanted to study mathematics although his father would have preferred medicine. Mathematics was not available at University College, so he pursued physics instead. After three years and not very much work, he was awarded a first class honours degree in natural science. In October 1962, Stephen arrived at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at the University of Cambridge to do research in cosmology, there being no-one working in that area in Oxford at the time.
    [Show full text]
  • Hawking, Stephen and Mlodinow, Leonard. the Grand Design. New Answers to the Ultimate Questions of Life
    Hawking, Stephen and Mlodinow, Leonard. The Grand Design. New answers to the ultimate questions of life. London, Bantam Press, 2010. 200 pp. Paperback. Stephen Hawking held the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge University for thirty years. Leonard Mlodinow is a physicist at Caltech University. They are eminent in their fields. The style is light-hearted and occasionally wry, with some amusing cartoons. The production is beautiful and the illustrations are helpful. The writing is clear, but the complexity of the subject matter requires attentive reading and re-reading. The authors tackle subjects such as quantum mechanics, the ‘big bang’, probability theory, the limitations of general relativity, and the surprising fact that we can determine the past by our observations in the present. They draw notably on the work of Richard Feynman who proposes that “a system has not just one history but every possible history”. (p.6) They also speak of M-theory which “predicts that a great many universes were created out of nothing”. (p.8) They speak of ‘supersymmetry’ and space-time, Game of Life theory, etc. This is all very interesting, and the authors are at ease in their element. They also admit that there is ignorance on some issues, for example “… we don’t have a complete quantum theory of gravity …. physicists are not sure exactly how inflation happened.” (p. 129) However, at the very start, Hawking and Mlodinow roundly proclaim that ‘philosophy is dead’ and they dismiss theology with equal ease. They present earlier forms of thought as the product of simple ignorance, with human beings inventing deities to explain the events of nature which only science now properly understands.
    [Show full text]
  • Reality, Science and the Supernatural CAN SCIENCE SUPPORT BELIEF in a CREATOR GOD?
    Reality, Science and the Supernatural CAN SCIENCE SUPPORT BELIEF IN A CREATOR GOD? John Brain Copyright © John Brain 2016 PAGE 1 To my wife Joyce for her invaluable support PAGE 2 Contents Preface p 6 Chapter 1 The Project p 14 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Main Doubts Materialism and mind/matter relationship Evolution Scientific and personal explanation Supporting evidence from science 1.3 A Project Outline 1.4 Key Points Chapter 2 Materialism and Reality p 30 2.1 Introduction 2.2. Modern physical sciences 2.3 The nature of matter 2.3.1 Looking inwards Quantum weirdness Vibrating strings of energy The Theory of chaos 2.3.2 Looking upwards Dark Mystery 2.4 Discussion 2.5 Key Points Chapter 3 Evolution and Reality p 53 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Darwinian evolution 3.3 Three viewpoints on human development Young earth creationism Intelligent design Evolution 3.4 Does belief in God prevent acceptance of the theory of evolution 3.5 Does evolution need God? 3.6 Theistic evolution What is theistic evolution? Why can evolution be such a cruel process? Does Theistic evolution introduce a “God of the Gaps”? PAGE 3 3.7 Discussion 3.8 Key Points Chapter 4 Science and Reality p 74 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Advances in Science – emergence of a new reality Biology Physical Sciences 4.3 A More Reliable Explanation of Reality Some dogmas of modern science No “Theory of Everything” No satisfactory explanation of quantum physics More intriguing problems 4.4 The Limitations of Science Science is continually changing Science is not geared to answer “Why”
    [Show full text]
  • The Grand Design
    anglicised hawkings_SO.qxp 29/7/10 12:14 Page v THE GRAND DESIGN STEPHEN HAWKING and LEONARD MLODINOW anglicised hawkings_SO.qxp 29/7/10 12:14 Page 2 anglicised hawkings_SO.qxp 29/7/10 12:14 Page 3 1 THE MYSTERY OF BEING anglicised hawkings_SO.qxp 29/7/10 12:14 Page 5 We each exist for but a short time, and in that time explore but a small part of the whole universe. But humans are a curious species. We wonder, we seek answers. Liv- ing in this vast world that is by turns kind and cruel, and gazing at the immense heavens above, people have always asked a multitude of questions: How can we understand the world in which we find ourselves? How does the universe behave? What is the nature of reality? Where did all this come from? Did the universe need a cre- ator? Most of us do not spend most of our time worrying about these questions, but almost all of us worry about them some of the time. Traditionally these are questions for philosophy, but philoso- phy is dead. Philosophy has not kept up with modern develop- ments in science, particularly physics. Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge. The purpose of this book is to give the answers that are suggested by recent discoveries and theoretical advances. They lead us to a new picture of the universe and our place in it that is very different from the traditional one, and different even from the picture we might have painted just a decade or two ago.
    [Show full text]