ثمانية احتمالات مستبعدة: لغز القمر وحقائق علمية أخرى لا تصدق

by John Gribbin, إبراهيم سند أحمد (مترجم), شيماء طه الريدي (مراجعة)

في هذا الكتاب يسعى «جون جريبين» إلى استكشاف ثمانية احتمالات في عالَم الفيزياء قد تكون مُستبعَدة، عسى أن يجد فيها ما قد يَفتح مجالات جديدة في هذا العالم الواسع الذي ما زالت آفاقه لمَّا تتكشَّف بعدُ بالكامل. تتنوَّع هذه الاحتمالات الثمانية بين تأثير القمر، ومحاوَلة تحديد بداية الكون، وما إذا كان مستمرًّا في التمدُّد، وأصل الحياة على الأرض، وغير ذلك من الموضوعات التي طالما استحوذَت على ألباب كبار الفيزيائيين على مرِّ التاريخ الطويل لعلم الفيزياء.

Genres: Science, Physics, Nonfiction

114 pages, ebook

First published October 7, 2021

About the author

John R. Gribbin is a British science writer, an astrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. His writings include quantum physics, human evolution, climate change, global warming, the origins of the universe, and biographies of famous scientists. He also writes science fiction.

Reviews

[Brian Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are broadly two types of short, stylish-looking little hardback science books. Some are all froth and very little content, where others manage to pack in a remarkable amount of information in a readable fashion. The latest from veteran British science writer John Gribbin is very much in the second category.

In this book he presents us with aspects of science (mostly around astronomy and physics) which seem improbable yet appear in our current best theories. These are: 'the mystery of the Moon', 'the universe has a beginning and we know what it was', 'the expansion of the universe is speeding up', 'we can detect ripples in space made by colliding black holes', 'Newton, the bishop, the bucket and the universe', 'simple laws make complicated things, or little things mean a lot', 'all complex life on Earth today is descended from a single cell' and 'ice age rhythms and human evolution'.

These are all interesting topics, but for me some were a lot more engaging than others, in part because some subjects (such as coverage of the big bang, cosmic microwave background radiation and gravitational waves) have been discussed in many other books. However, three of the topics really grabbed my attention. One was that opener about the Moon (an influence that comes back up again in the final chapter) - Gribbin points out just how unusual our moon is in being far bigger than you would otherwise expect, and shows how its formation and gravitational influence have a huge influence on what the Earth is like and how suitable it was for life to develop. We simply wouldn't be here without the Moon.

The second topic, for which I would buy this book alone (I wish, if anything, the whole thing had been on this subject as it deserves a dedicated book) was the one with Newton, the bucket et al. As Gribbin points out, it sounds like the opening of a joke, but in reality it's a crucially important observation that feeds into relativity - the oddity of how something 'knows' that it is rotating. This is the idea that led to Mach's principle - that this 'awareness' comes from the interaction of the spinning object and the rest of the universe. This concept and what this implied for Einstein's development of the general theory of relativity are beautifully explored. It's both intriguing and philosophically mind-boggling stuff that is usually brushed over without diving into the detail as happens here.

The final topic I want to pick out is the origin of complex life on Earth. It might be well-known, but this exploration of the roots of life is still something that feels remarkably counter-intuitive. It's a useful counter to the petty discoveries of genealogy to realise that we are all related to every living thing (so who cares if you can find royalty in your family tree?) There was one issue here: the assertion that the two most basic types of organisms, archaea and bacteria did not arise from a common ancestor. Gribbin tells us that 'the two forms of life must have arisen separately, but out of the same chemical soup, which explains their similarities.' The biological consensus is that there was a single universal common ancestor, but that archaea and bacteria most likely evolved separately from that same common ancestor, not just a soup.

I do wish there had been more of the less familiar material, but even so, this is a very good addition to the short but beautifully formed genus of popular science book, and would make a great gift or addition to the bookshelf.

[Ahmed Farahat · Rating 3 out of 5]

جون جريبين عالم فيزياء فلكية، وواحد من أهم الكتّاب في تبسيط العلوم، من أشهر كتبه "البحث عن قطة شرودنجر"..
ذلك الكتاب هو الثالث في سلسلة تتكون من أربعة أجزاء موضوعها الأساسي الفيزياء الفلكية وميكانيكا الكم، ويحاول الكاتب شرح كيفية وصول العلماء للحقائق العلمية عن طريق استبعاد الاحتمالات غير المنطقية لتصل إلى الحقيقة.
«بعدما تستبعد المستحيل، فما يتبقى لديك، مهما كان مستبعدا، لا بد أن يكون هو الحقيقة.»
كتاب صغير ويحتاج لتركيز عميق، يتحدث عن ثمانية موضوعات منها لغز تكون القمر، والانفجار العظيم، وتمدد الكون، وموجات الجاذبية التي تنبأ بها أينشتاين واكتشفت بعد التنبؤ بمئة عام، وبعض الحديث عن التطور.
كتاب ممتع، وأنصح بقراءة السلسلة كاملة لمحبي الفيزياء الفلكية وميكانيكا الكم، والعلوم بشكل عام.

[George Kanakaris · Rating 4 out of 5]

'A total eclipse of the Sun is one of the most spectacular and beautiful
sights visible from the surface of the Earth. It is so spectacular
because the Moon and Sun look the same size to us.
The Sun is about 400 times bigger than the Moon, but it is also about 400
times further away from us than the Moon is.
So when the Moon
passes in front of the Sun, it can exactly cover the bright solar disc,
plunging the region affected by the eclipse into darkness, but allowing
the glowing outer layer of the Sun, its corona, to become visible like a
glorious halo. But why are we lucky enough to see this sight? '

[Barış Kaplan · Rating 5 out of 5]

İlginç şeyler yalnızca dengeye yakın bir yerde ve bir sistemde enerji akışı olduğunda gerçekleşir. Tam olarak dengede, hiçbir şey değişmez. Dengeden uzakta, her şey karmaşık bir şekilde sürekli değişir; bu kaostur.
... Hayat kaosun eşiğinde bulunur...
Bu kitap ile nasıl bir olasılıkla yaşaya bildiğimizi anlatıyor bize;
Büyük patlama gerçekten odu mu?
Evren statik mi, sıkışır mı, genişler mi?
Evren kaç yaşında?
Arkea ve bakterinin simbiyotik bir ortaklığı ile mi başladı tüm yaşam?
Okuması kolay, çok hızlı akıyor... Keyifli okumalar...

[Augustine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a beautiful book! I picked it up because I liked the cover, and was pleasantly surprised and thankful at how much this book inspired my passion for science again. My one dream in life was to become an astrophysicist, but I had to leave that behind a long time ago. Finishing Eight Improbable Possibilities made me realize that even if I can’t study what I want in university, there’s no reason I can’t dive into books and learn all the magic of the universe on my own. Thank you Mr. Gribbin for doing what you do. I’m grateful for your writing.

[Michael Masters]

Whether the moon is a cold chiseled dagger aimed straight for my heart or whether it’s sagging on down like a metal ball, I know I’m not the only one who’s often experienced the most implausible aspect of its behavior. It’s unpredictability and utter instability. Madness is merely moisture on the brain. The moon in all its lunacy. That intrusive celestial ship that follows me, and will perhaps one day consume me.

[Ahmed Ezzeldien · Rating 4 out of 5]

يتناول الكتاب في ثمانية فصول احتمالات لم تكن لتكون لولا تفاصيل صغيرة جداً صنعت الفارق الكبير الذي نعيشه الآن وكأنه شيء بديهي، الستة فصول الأولى تناولت أكثر ظواهر فلكية، تعرضت لها من قبل في كتب وأفلام وثائقية، لكن الكاتب لديه أسلوب سلس وجذاب رغم تكرار العديد من المعلومات، لكن الفصلين الأخيرين تناولا مواضيع أحيائية/بيولوجية أكثر، وهما الأكثر إثارة للاهتمام بالنسبة لي، حيث أني قد وجدت العديد من المعلومات الجديدة، خاصة في علم الأحياء الدقيقة، والعصور الجليدية.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a short well written book telling the importance of Moon to the Earth and the science discoveries of the Universe. It brings back the joy of reading a popular science book as I experienced when I was a kid.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. John Gribbin explains concepts succinctly and wit.

[Floor Holleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun read, went through it very fast, even though it contained a lot of (sometimes difficult to grasp) information. Learned a lot

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a mixture, I found some chapters much more interesting than others, but I learned about some really fascinating ideas.

[Mohamed · Rating 3 out of 5]

محتوى ثري ومعلومات قيمه ينقصها تبسيط في الشرح وسلامه في الترجمة

[Madhukara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The starting chapters r good..But as the book proceeds they start to become repetitive and too technical.Overall a good read.

[Gökhan Can · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zor konuların keyifle okunmasını sağlayan bir kitap

[Aleja · Rating 4 out of 5]

childlike wonder summer is BACK 🗣️🗣️