The Edges of Science: Crossing the Boundary from Physics to Metaphysics

by Richard Morris

Examines the most recent theoretical speculation in the fields of particle physics and cosmology, discussing the nature of matter, the big bang, wormholes, black holes, dark matter, and the weakening barriers between physics and metaphysics

Genres: Science, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Physics

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1991

About the author

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Reviews

[Sameh Maher · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب جميل حاول الكاتب فيه تبسيط المسائل العلمية على قدر ما يستطيع من خلال سرد قصة العلم وبالتحديد فى موضوع نشأة الكون وعلاقته بالاكتشافات الحديثة من ناحية الكواركات و نظرية الانفجار الكبير ونظريات الانتفاخ الكونى وما لها وما عليها وبعض النظريات الحديثة جدا مثل الاوتار الفائقة
وبذكر الكاب موضوع ما عرض له ستيفن هوكنج من نظريات وما لها وما عليها
فى قال بجذاب جدا
رغم انى لم افهم كثيرا من المصطلحات التى تحتاج الى متخصصين الا ان كثير جدا من النقاط هى منطقية حتى وان لم تفهم ولديك اقل القليل من المعرفة العلمية
سوف تستقيد وتخرج حتما ببعض المعرفة فى موضوع شيق هو حديث الساعة الا وهو نشاة الكون

[Safaa Elsaprei · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب مميز يشرح احدث النظريات عن نشأة الكون ويناقش مدى امكانية اثباته او تفنيده
.ايضا يفسر كيف تتداخل الميتفيزيقيا في الفيزياء ومالنتائج المترتب عن ذلك
ممتع وشيق

[Sara Ghotb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite its age (initially published in 1990), this book presents concepts that remain remarkably engaging. It opens with a discussion on "Physics and Cosmology Today," exploring the myriad elementary particles discovered up to the time of its writing.
The narrative begins by establishing that all matter comprises six quarks and six leptons, amounting to twelve fundamental particles, or twenty-four when considering antiparticles separately. Among the leptons are the electron, muon, tau, and their associated neutrinos, while the quarks encompass up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top flavors.

Transitioning seamlessly, the second chapter delves into the Standard Model, elucidating the four known forces: gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak and strong nuclear forces. This section grapples with concepts such as the uncertainty principle and the interplay between time and energy, ultimately addressing the central quest of physics—unifying these forces—primarily through discussions of QED and QCD theories.

Chapter three navigates towards the captivating subject of the Big Bang, examining the concept of redshift and pondering whether the universe is open, closed, or flat. While the theory of relativity provides insights into these scenarios based on the universe's matter content, it grapples with enigmas like the flatness problem, where the universe's density aligns remarkably close to a critical value unpredicted by the Big Bang theory.
Subsequently, the narrative addresses two significant flaws arising from the Big Bang—the horizon problem, which underscores the uniformity of the universe in all directions, and the mystery surrounding the apparent dominance of matter over antimatter. This leads to discussions on the Grand Unified Theory (GUT), attempting to merge electromagnetism with the weak and strong nuclear forces.

The subsequent chapters delve deeper into concepts beyond the Standard Model, emphasizing the importance of tools like the Supercollider in scrutinizing the universe at a more granular level, leading to the discovery of new particles.

Concluding with an exploration of superstring theory, the book ventures into the pursuit of a unified theory of everything, which eludes prior attempts like GUT, QED, or QCD due to their inability to reconcile gravity with other forces. Despite the challenges posed by theories like quantum gravity, the book illuminates the cutting-edge frontiers of science, offering readers a fascinating glimpse into the origins of the universe.

In summary, this book proves to be a captivating read for those interested in delving into the core concepts of physics, particularly particle physics. Its coherent flow and continuity across diverse topics make it a highly recommended choice for enthusiasts seeking to deepen their understanding of the subject.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this 1991 book is now dated, it is still a good overview of Standard Model, The Big Bang, and comparing/contrasting theories of the nature of the universe: expanding, flat, etc. Morris comments on A Brief History of Time in an attempt to clarify parts of it. Content about the nature of matter, wormholes, black holes, dark matter, the fundamental forces and even time travel stays mostly on the side of conservative opinion and really does go far between the barrier between physics and metaphysics despite the subtitle "Crossing the Boundary from Physics to Metaphysics".

[J.D. Steens · Rating 3 out of 5]

As indicated by the title, Morris' main emphasis is on the speculative reaches of cosmology. While the book is dated (1990), it nevertheless provides a good overview of modern cosmology. For perspective about how far we have come, Morris says that as recent as one hundred years ago, the Milky Way was thought to be the entire cosmos. Now, with the (speculative) prospect of multiple universes that are created over and over again, Morris makes a distinction between "universe" and "cosmos. Then, he states that, "while our universe might not be eternal,.. our "cosmos would be."

Morris does leave the lay reader hanging out there on many of his points. For example, he says that gravity differs in some fundamental way from the other three forces, but it's not clear why this is so. With gravity, bodies mutually attract each other whereas, with the other three forces, opposites (positive-negative) attract. Yet, if bodies differ in size, are they not then in a sense opposite, not in kind but in dimension, so that it is this size differential (plus distance) that accounts for the attraction? Morris writes about energy and forces, but it's not clear how these differ from each other, particularly when he refers to "gravitational energy." In addition, in other books, "field" is an important notion, but he is silent on this concept.

Writers on the Big Bang often dismiss as "meaningless" the question about what was before the Big Bang. Morris says this is not a meaningless question. It could be, for example, that our Big Bang is one of many out there that were repeated perpetually. Hence, his distinction between "universe" and "cosmos" referenced above. Interestingly, Morris writes that Hawking eliminates the idea of before and after. When the universe closes on itself, time is incorporated into a fourth dimension of space. Even though I have no clue as to what that means, it is a thought that stays with you.

Morris notes that when matter collapses onto itself into a singularity, he comes tantalizingly close to explaining how mass becomes infinite. Does gravity pull itself into a point at which nothing is there? In a singularity, there's zero space and time and at that point Morris writes, general relativity is no longer valid. Does that mean that gravity no longer works? If that is so, does this mean that matter explodes and creates the big bang type repulsive force that created our universe? Does this type of repulsive force counter the attractive force of gravity? Does this account for the attraction-repulsion dynamic that seems so fundamental to cosmology?

You take from a book like this whatever you can, and there's plenty of far reaching thoughts that Morris has to offer. When boiled down, whatever else cosmology is, one is struck by how much cosmology seems to be about attraction, repulsion and balance, and also about how much this pattern seems to apply to how humans organize their affairs.

[Jc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just read Crease and Mann's "The Second Creation," I found this book to be the perfect 2nd act. While the C&M book dealt more with the personalities behind the development of modern particle physics, Morris' work looks deeper at the theories themselves. Not being a physicist, I appreciated that these are both aimed at the non-physicist, and so as much as they can they avoid the math. But, neither of these are simple reads, and both take at least a basic knowledge of physics to full appreciate what they are saying. But, if you read both, I can guarantee that you will find yourself having a greater appreciation and understanding for what particle physics can tell us about the nature of the universe. Both end with the field as it was in the late 1980s, but much of their final chapters look to what is on the horizon. Today's physics only make sense in the context of its history, and these books will teach you that history. A sad note: Morris speaks excitedly about what we will potentially be able to learn with the new Superconducting Super Collider being built in Texas, which would have been larger than the Hadron Collider in Europe. Sadly, not long after this book was published, the congressional budget committee cancelled the project.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely. Science reveals an astounding universe, from the smallest particles to the vast universe. So many unanswered questions, and still the ultimate question..how did we get here? A quantum fluctuation? What was before the Big Bang? All science lovers should read this and enjoy. Quite accessible in so far as material is accessible!

I reread parts of this book and I have to say that quantum physics and cosmology are enormously complicated and difficult to conceptualize. I didn't finish it the second time around..and I doubt I did the first time either! I'll keep it on my shelf though and pick it up again.