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Cosmology + 1: Readings from Scientific American
Articles on the curvature of space, quasars, black holes, the origin of galaxies, the expanding universe, and the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence illuminate aspects of the search to understand the universe
113 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1977
About the author
Owen Gingerich
72 books25 followersProfessor Owen Gingerich was a US astronomer. He served at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and as Professor of Astronomy and History of Science at Harvard University. He held memberships with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the International Academy of the History of Science. Gingerich published over 500 technical or educational articles and reviews, along with writing more popularly on astronomy and the history of astronomy in books, encyclopedias, and journals.
Gingerich taught at Harvard University until his retirement in 2000. He continues to be a widely recognized authority on the Renaisannce astronomers Johannes Kepler and Nicolaus Copernicus, and on the French astronomer Charles Messier.
Asteroid 2658: Gingerich, discovered on February 13, 1980, at the Harvard College Observatory, was named in his honor.
Gingerich taught at Harvard University until his retirement in 2000. He continues to be a widely recognized authority on the Renaisannce astronomers Johannes Kepler and Nicolaus Copernicus, and on the French astronomer Charles Messier.
Asteroid 2658: Gingerich, discovered on February 13, 1980, at the Harvard College Observatory, was named in his honor.
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January 5, 2025
AN EXCELLENT COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ABOUT A WIDE VARIETY OF ISSUES
Editor Owen Gingerich wrote in the Preface to this 1977 collection of essays, “Infinity, curved space, the big bang, red shifts of galaxies---these are the makings of modern cosmology. Armed with sophisticated mathematics and all-too-sparse observations, cosmologists have labored since the 1920s to construct a picture of the universe on its grandest scale… This collection of articles … describes various aspects of our search for an understanding of the universe as a whole. It includes descriptions of galaxies, of the pervasive background radiation, and of non-Euclidean space. It also includes two recent article on black holes, those astonishing space-warps in miniature that may ultimately yield crucial hints about the curvature of space as a whole. Is the universe a one-time happening? Or does it pulse in an unending cycle?... Are we the only intelligent life in this vast celestial frame?... I hope the reader will find the search for their answers exciting, even though they may never be found.”
George Gamow wrote in his article, “Einstein came to the conclusion that the curvature of space must be independent of time, i.e., that the universe as a whole must be unchanging… However, he found to his surprise that there was no solution of the equations that would permit a static cosmos. To repair the situation, Einstein was forced to introduce an additional hypothesis … Einstein’s new force, called ‘cosmic repulsion,’ allowed two mathematical models of a static universe… Unhappily, astronomical observations contradicted both Einstein’s and de Sitter’s static models of the universe, and they were soon abandoned. In the year 1922 a major turning point came in the cosmological problem… Alexander A. Friedman … discovered an error in Einstein’s proof for a static universe. In carrying out his proof Einstein had divided both sides of an equation by a quantity which… could become zero… Since division by zero is not permitted in algebraic computations, the possibility of a nonstatic universe could not be excluded under the circumstances in question.” (Pg.15-16)
J.J. Callahan states in his article, “Space IS like that. The assumption that we can build a scale model of any physical system, which is equivalent to the assumption that the geometry of space is Euclidean, is thus revealed to be an attempt to make reality conform to our preconceptions. Einstein turns that around and makes the model conform to reality: he takes the model already built and declares that one long stick should represent the same intergalactic distance as the other nine joining all the balls.” (Pg. 23) Later, he adds, “It was no longer possible to maintain Kant’s position that Euclidean geometry was synthetic a priori.” (Pg. 28)
In the article ‘The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence’ by Carl Sagan and Frank Drake, they explain, “The only technique we have at present for detecting the planetary systems of nearby stars is the study of the perturbations such planets induce in the motion of their parent star… The technique is only sensitive enough, however, to detect the perturbations of a massive planet around the nearest stars.” (Pg. 94)
They observe, “laboratory studies on the linking of amino acids into molecules resembling proteins and on the linking of nucleotides into molecules resembling nucleic acids are progressing well… The laboratory experiments also yield a large amount of a brownish polymer that seems to consist mainly of long hydrocarbon chains. The spectroscopic properties of the polymer are similar to those of the reddish clouds on Jupiter, Saturn and Titan… Since the atmospheres of these objects are rich in hydrogen and are similar to the atmosphere of the primitive earth, the coincidence is not remarkable. It is nonetheless remarkable. Jupiter, Saturn and Titan may be vast planetary laboratories engaged in prebiological organic chemistry.” (Pg. 95)
They continue, “Since life originated on earth in a span much shorter than the present age of the earth, we have additional evidence that the origin of life has a high probability, at least on planets with an abundant support of hydrogen-rich bases, liquid water and sources of energy. Since those conditions are common throughout the universe, life may also be common.” (Pg. 96)
They argue, “if there are 100 billion suitable planets in our galaxy, if the origin of life is highly probable, if there are billions of years of evolution available on each such planet and if even a small fraction of technical civilizations pass safety through the early stages of technological adolescence, the number of technological civilizations in the galaxy today might be very large. It is obviously a highly uncertain exercise to attempt to estimate the number of such civilizations… Our best guess is that there are a million civilizations in our galaxy at or beyond the earth’s present level of technological development. If they are distributed randomly, the distance between us and the nearest civilization should be about 300 light years. Hence any information conveyed between the nearest civilization and our own will take a minimum of 300 years for a one-way trip and 600 years for a question and a response.” (Pg. 96-97)
About attempts to find radio or other signals from such civilizations, they observe, “When we actually search for signals, it is not necessary to guess the exact bandwidth. It is possible to communicate on many adjacent narrow bands at once… We do not, of course, know now which star we should listen to. The most conservative approach is to turn our receivers to stars that are rather similar to the sun… Our present technology is entirely adequate for both transmitting and receiving messages across immense interstellar distances.” (Pg. 98)
They go on, “Should we be sending messages ourselves?... We have sent another kind of message: two engraved plaques that ride aboard Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. These spacecraft… will voyage forever through our galaxy … Identical plaques for each vehicle were designed by us and Linda Salzman Sagan… These plaques are destined to be the longest-lived works of mankind… They will show that in the year we called 1973, there were organisms, portrayed on the plaques, that cared enough about their place in the hierarchy of all intelligent beings to share knowledge about themselves with others.” (Pg.. 103)
Other articles include one by Kip Thorne (‘The Search for Black Holes’) and one by Stephen Hawking (‘The Quantum Mechanics of Black Holes’).
This book will be of great interest to those studying such cosmological matters.
Editor Owen Gingerich wrote in the Preface to this 1977 collection of essays, “Infinity, curved space, the big bang, red shifts of galaxies---these are the makings of modern cosmology. Armed with sophisticated mathematics and all-too-sparse observations, cosmologists have labored since the 1920s to construct a picture of the universe on its grandest scale… This collection of articles … describes various aspects of our search for an understanding of the universe as a whole. It includes descriptions of galaxies, of the pervasive background radiation, and of non-Euclidean space. It also includes two recent article on black holes, those astonishing space-warps in miniature that may ultimately yield crucial hints about the curvature of space as a whole. Is the universe a one-time happening? Or does it pulse in an unending cycle?... Are we the only intelligent life in this vast celestial frame?... I hope the reader will find the search for their answers exciting, even though they may never be found.”
George Gamow wrote in his article, “Einstein came to the conclusion that the curvature of space must be independent of time, i.e., that the universe as a whole must be unchanging… However, he found to his surprise that there was no solution of the equations that would permit a static cosmos. To repair the situation, Einstein was forced to introduce an additional hypothesis … Einstein’s new force, called ‘cosmic repulsion,’ allowed two mathematical models of a static universe… Unhappily, astronomical observations contradicted both Einstein’s and de Sitter’s static models of the universe, and they were soon abandoned. In the year 1922 a major turning point came in the cosmological problem… Alexander A. Friedman … discovered an error in Einstein’s proof for a static universe. In carrying out his proof Einstein had divided both sides of an equation by a quantity which… could become zero… Since division by zero is not permitted in algebraic computations, the possibility of a nonstatic universe could not be excluded under the circumstances in question.” (Pg.15-16)
J.J. Callahan states in his article, “Space IS like that. The assumption that we can build a scale model of any physical system, which is equivalent to the assumption that the geometry of space is Euclidean, is thus revealed to be an attempt to make reality conform to our preconceptions. Einstein turns that around and makes the model conform to reality: he takes the model already built and declares that one long stick should represent the same intergalactic distance as the other nine joining all the balls.” (Pg. 23) Later, he adds, “It was no longer possible to maintain Kant’s position that Euclidean geometry was synthetic a priori.” (Pg. 28)
In the article ‘The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence’ by Carl Sagan and Frank Drake, they explain, “The only technique we have at present for detecting the planetary systems of nearby stars is the study of the perturbations such planets induce in the motion of their parent star… The technique is only sensitive enough, however, to detect the perturbations of a massive planet around the nearest stars.” (Pg. 94)
They observe, “laboratory studies on the linking of amino acids into molecules resembling proteins and on the linking of nucleotides into molecules resembling nucleic acids are progressing well… The laboratory experiments also yield a large amount of a brownish polymer that seems to consist mainly of long hydrocarbon chains. The spectroscopic properties of the polymer are similar to those of the reddish clouds on Jupiter, Saturn and Titan… Since the atmospheres of these objects are rich in hydrogen and are similar to the atmosphere of the primitive earth, the coincidence is not remarkable. It is nonetheless remarkable. Jupiter, Saturn and Titan may be vast planetary laboratories engaged in prebiological organic chemistry.” (Pg. 95)
They continue, “Since life originated on earth in a span much shorter than the present age of the earth, we have additional evidence that the origin of life has a high probability, at least on planets with an abundant support of hydrogen-rich bases, liquid water and sources of energy. Since those conditions are common throughout the universe, life may also be common.” (Pg. 96)
They argue, “if there are 100 billion suitable planets in our galaxy, if the origin of life is highly probable, if there are billions of years of evolution available on each such planet and if even a small fraction of technical civilizations pass safety through the early stages of technological adolescence, the number of technological civilizations in the galaxy today might be very large. It is obviously a highly uncertain exercise to attempt to estimate the number of such civilizations… Our best guess is that there are a million civilizations in our galaxy at or beyond the earth’s present level of technological development. If they are distributed randomly, the distance between us and the nearest civilization should be about 300 light years. Hence any information conveyed between the nearest civilization and our own will take a minimum of 300 years for a one-way trip and 600 years for a question and a response.” (Pg. 96-97)
About attempts to find radio or other signals from such civilizations, they observe, “When we actually search for signals, it is not necessary to guess the exact bandwidth. It is possible to communicate on many adjacent narrow bands at once… We do not, of course, know now which star we should listen to. The most conservative approach is to turn our receivers to stars that are rather similar to the sun… Our present technology is entirely adequate for both transmitting and receiving messages across immense interstellar distances.” (Pg. 98)
They go on, “Should we be sending messages ourselves?... We have sent another kind of message: two engraved plaques that ride aboard Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. These spacecraft… will voyage forever through our galaxy … Identical plaques for each vehicle were designed by us and Linda Salzman Sagan… These plaques are destined to be the longest-lived works of mankind… They will show that in the year we called 1973, there were organisms, portrayed on the plaques, that cared enough about their place in the hierarchy of all intelligent beings to share knowledge about themselves with others.” (Pg.. 103)
Other articles include one by Kip Thorne (‘The Search for Black Holes’) and one by Stephen Hawking (‘The Quantum Mechanics of Black Holes’).
This book will be of great interest to those studying such cosmological matters.
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