العلم والعالم غير المرئي

by Arthur Stanley Eddington, سير آرثر ستانلي إدنجتون, أحمد سمير سعد (Translator)

يحاول هذا الكتاب أن يلقي الضوء على عالم يقع فيما وراء العالم الذي تستطيع الفيزياء وصفه. ينطلق إدنجتون من مقدمات علمية كعادته متسائلا عما إذا كانت مناهج العلم قادرة على تفسير ذلك العالم غير المرئي أو على الأقل التدشين لمنهج قادر على كشف أسرار ذلك العالم الغيبي، لكنه يبدأ كعادته من معارفه الفيزيائية ويحاول مُستعينا بها وبمنهجه العلمي سبر أغوار ذلك الخفاء.

إدنجتون الفلكي والرياضي والفيزيائي الشهير، أول من أثبت النظرية العامة لأينشتاين، أول من كتب عنها في الإنجليزية، أشاد به أينشتين نفسه حين قال إن ما كتبه هو أدق ما كُتب عن النسبية في أي لغة. أسهم في تطوير الهندسة اللاإقليدية التي ساعدت كثيرا في تقديم هندسة صالحة لفهم العالم في ضوء النظرية النسبية نفسها. لم يتوقف به الأمر عند ذلك بل كانت له دراساته الخاصة العديدة عن نشأة النجوم وتطورها وحركتها وتركيبها، كما كان من أوائل المتحمسين لنظرية الكم.

وهكذا نرى في هذا الكتاب مقاربة أحد أذكى عقول القرن العشرين العلمية لأمر ذلك الخفاء ووجهة نظره بخصوصه، وهي الرؤية التي تبحر بنا بين شواطئ العلم والفلسفة والدين وتملأ النفوس بالإلهام.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Religion, Physics, Nonfiction

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, OM, FRS was a British astrophysicist of the early 20th century. The Eddington limit, the natural limit to the luminosity of stars, or the radiation generated by accretion onto a compact object, is named in his honour.

He is famous for his work regarding the Theory of Relativity. Eddington wrote a number of articles which announced and explained Einstein's theory of general relativity to the English-speaking world. World War I severed many lines of scientific communication and new developments in German science were not well known in England. He also conducted an expedition to observe the Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919 that provided one of the earliest confirmations of relativity, and he became known for his popular expositions and interpretations of the theory.

Reviews

[Nouru-éddine · Rating 3 out of 5]

"الدين بالنسبة إلى الباحث الواعي ليس في مجمله مادة شك أو مساءلة ذاتية. ثمة نوع من اليقين يختلف عن يقين الغرور."

::انطباع عام::

كتاب ممتاز على قصره وفيه يتناول بشكل حيادي وعام مسألة محورية وهي الفصل بين القوانين التي تحكم العالم المرئي عن العالم غير المرئي. فكل عالم منهما قوانينه الخاصة أو طبيعته الخاصة فلا يجب مزج الاثنين معًا، لكن، هذا لا يعني أن هناك جدار يفصل بين العالمين، فالعالمان الطبيعي والديني منفعلان مع بعضهما البعض.
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::الكتاب::

الوعي: "انتهت حكايتنا مع النشوء الكوني مع بزوغ عضو المخ، آخر تجارب الطبيعة، لكن بزوغ ذلك الوعي بدل القصة بأكملها وأسبغ معنى على رمزيتها. إنها النهاية رمزيًا، لكننا عند النظر فيما وراء الرمزية، نجد أنها البداية."

المادية: "إن العلم لم يعد مهيأ لتعريف الواقع من خلال الملموس. لقد ماتت المادية بمعناها الحرفي منذ وقت طويل."

القانون الطبيعي: "لا ينطبق القانون الطبيعي على العالم غير المرئي فيما وراء الرموز، لأنه من غير الممكن تكييفه على أي شيء باستثناء الرموز."

الإله المشخصن مقابل الطاقة الكبرى: "مفهوم الشخصية ينبغي أن يسود العالم غير المرئي، فهو جوهره الأساسي بينما تنتمي القوة الغفلة والطاقة والأبعاد إلى عالم الرموز."
***

::تبصرات شخصية::

١- يمكن القول أنه لا يوجد ما يمكن تسميته "الشيء في ذاته" لأن القانون الطبيعي يقوم بترميز، ولا يوصف شيئًأ في كينونته الأصيلة بل نصوف تجلياته؛
٢- نفرق أن للإنسان عينان: عين الجسد وعين النفس؛
٣- لابد أن ننحي جانبًا فكرة تجليات المادة، وننتقل إلى رؤية أنها تجليات القانون الطبيعي؛
٤- لا يمكن قياس ورصد كمية إيمان شخص ما بالنسبة المئوية أي بالرمز العلمي!
٥- المغزى يشكل عمودًا أساسيًا من الفعل البشري، فحتى التفسير السببي أو التنبؤ لا يغنينا عن أهمية وجود المغزى.
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[william mackinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional book that clearly articulates the symbols found in physics and religions and places them into context as integrated processes, NOT piece parts. It is perhaps just a bit less eloquent than "The Nature of the Physical World" (1928), but that is hardly a negative comment as that book appears to me to be one of the finest books of scientific process, method and overall philosophy ever written. Both books are extraordinarily well-written, articulate, and are careful to avoid claiming more knowledge than science or philosophy can fully demonstrate. They also display the rare gift of Eddington's humor, humanism and deep faith in the value of our continued search for truth. Highly recommended.

[Miguel Panão · Rating 5 out of 5]

After seeing a movie about Eddington and Einstein, I sensed the religious sensibility of Arthur Eddington and later read how he was not as famous as Einstein in part due to his dedication in building a bridge between science and religion. This book was my introduction to his thinking and caught me by surprise. And will get you too. Eddington has a special spark that’s worth exploring in the dialogue between the seen and unseen reality.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting treatise. Originally a lecture as part of a series for Quakers. Originally done in the 1920's. Trying to reconcil sciencetific thinking with the other unseen world of belief. He does a fair job of it. That they do not have to be mutually exclusive of one another seems to be the main theme.

[C. B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful lecture on the congruity of science and religion—specifically Eddington’s mystical variety of Quakerism. Radical and still as relevant now as it was in 1929.

[Allan Olley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short work gives the text of the 1929 Swathmore Lecture at the Friends House, London before the annual meeting of the Society of Friends (the Quakers). The subject is the relation of science to the "unseen world" that is the spiritual world; the matters of religious observation and devotion (from a Quaker perspective). Eddington begins with a quick summary of what he takes to be the scientific characterization of the physical facts and then starting into considerations of the relationship between. scientific and religious activity. He pretty much eschews any talk of particular doctrine or scientific findings to focus instead on questions of epistemology (how things come to be known), motivation and import of the scientific and religious activities. Eddington maintains that science has a necessarily limited field of vision and goals in terms of seeking truth about physical experience, this limitation is not absolute and Eddington points to the place left for other aspects of life and even the role of things like the awe of nature in science. Whereas religion focuses on ordering and selecting action, of finding meaning that goes beyond the particular physical happenings that science unveils. Eddington ends by emphasizing the common theme of seeking he sees in science and (Quaker) religion, the search for physical truth in science and the search for a pious and holy mode of living for the religious seeker.

The book also showcases some of Eddington's views of science. His view of science after relativity and quantum theory is one where the goal of explaining natural phenomenon in terms of concrete physical mechanisms has given way to explanation in terms of abstract symbols and laws. He thus exemplifies a view of the intellectual implications of the new physics at this time that persisted for some time after. He also at various points takes the position that mental life, consciousness and human will defy physical explanation.

There are some wonderful bits in this. My favourite is his example of things would go if other areas of life were treated in the way religious doctrine and scientific finding clash. He imagines a set of letters to the newspaper after an obituary mentions the deceased enjoyment of sunsets. A dispute thus arises because Copernicus has shown that the sun does not rise and so Eddington rehearses the debate that would ensue.

Fittingly for a theme he introduces late about how findings (whether scientific or religious) can prove fleeting, with scientific findings revised or even refuted in less than 50 years. One of the few sketches he gives of a then current scientific theory is the account of the formation of the planets in the solar system by a hypothesized close pass between our sun and some other star which caused the matter of the planets to be drawn out. This theory of planetary formation has been thrown out in subsequent years but was the preferred explanation back in 1929. This serves as ample illustration of Eddington's point about the transitory victory of the scientific finding. Although it should be said much of Eddington's scientific picture remains consistent with our own.

The biblical literalist and the scientific atheist may find Eddington's avoidance of the concrete disagreements of science and faith to focus on softer questions of world view and wonder cowardly shirking of the central questions. While I don't completely endorse Eddington's emphasis I think it is an honest reflection of the role of scientific and religious yearning in his heart and many others beside. It is if nothing else an interesting look into the way one prominent scientist understood the science of his time in both broad and narrow terms.