The big bang!!!

[Foxholer]

The main difference between the two is that one is written by the greatest brains in the history of human civilization and the other is written on papyrus by a bunch of early academics who thought the earth was flat and that it was okay to chuck stones at people in public until they died. Equal merit? I don't think so somehow.....

H'mm. While I agree to some extent, I'm not entirely certain about your reasoning. It's highly likely that there were as many 'greatest brains' back then as now. The difference is more down to the accumulated knowledge over the centuries. And there are certainly plenty of examples of obscene treatment of fellow humans, and animals, by supposed civilised authorities!

And when you consider that many of the greatest advances in the practical applications of science came about through warfare, I'm dubious about the ability to criticise early academics for the morality of their governments - or entertainments!

 

[JustOne]

Gareth, my reply to your post got sent to the mods.... so it should appear AFTER you've read this one but appear before it on the list of replies... is that 'special relativity'?

Edit:
Ha! It's been 'time melged' back before Foxy's reply!! Clever huh?

 

[Foxholer]

I'm sure there would be a heap of volunteers that would like to be on this planet 200yrs from now rather than today!!!

By then, the cat would certainly be dead!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

interesting, what is the Universe expanding into?

To me 'expanding' implies 3 physical dimensions (time is a fourth) - but if there are more than three physical dimesions, then there is no reason why the universe cannot expand into one or more of these subsequent dimensions.

I like Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott where the inhabitants are startled and confused by the appearance and disappearance of things 'out of nowhere' - when in fact they are simply observing the impression/interface on their two-dimensional world of a three-dimensional object. Flatlanders being flat (2D) living on a flatland when in fact unbeknown to them they actually live on the surface of a 3D world. Just that they don't know about the third dimension.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland

 

[Foxholer]

The Mr Tompkins books are an interesting read too. Most appropriate to this thread too as by George Gamow, quite a Big Bang man!
Dreams after visit to FinL where speed of light is 30mph, so horses look zebra-ish and cyclists undergo Lorentz shrinkage, or time spent as an electron, only waking up when annihilated by a positron!

 

[Iaing]

The main difference between the two is that one is written by the greatest brains in the history of human civilization and the other is written on papyrus by a bunch of early academics who thought the earth was flat and that it was okay to chuck stones at people in public until they died. Equal merit? I don't think so somehow.....

And quite possibly scientists two thousand years from now will look back at today's theories with ridicule.