The Bones of Copernicus

Dennis Danielson

Quantum Phenomena Lecture Series,

St. John’s College, UBC, Jan. 9, 2008

The Bones of Copernicus

Dennis Danielson

Quantum Phenomena Lecture Series,

St. John’s College, UBC, Jan. 9, 2008

Matejko’s “Conversation with God” (1872)

from Peter Apian’s Geographia (1533) “God’s geometry in heaven and on earth” (Rheticus)

“More than one centre”

Matejko’s “Conversation with God” (1872)

Some implications of Copernicanism

• Mathematics can spearhead cosmological discovery

• Science must go beyond appearance and common sense

• The assumption that physical reality may exhibit divine orderliness, “artistry,” or “poetry” is scientifically fruitful

• The observer is part of the equation

The Copernican Principle (“CP”)

Hermann Bondi(supporter of Steady State Cosmology,

1952):

The Copernican Principleis the idea that earth “is not in a

central, specially favoured position” in the universe.

Hawking and Ellis (1973)

Stephen Hawking &George Ellis

(supporters of Big Bang Cosmology, 1973):

“Since the time of Copernicus we have been steadily demoted to a medium sized planet going round a medium sized star on the outer edge of a

fairly average galaxy, which is itself simply one of a local group of galaxies. Indeed we are now so

democratic that we would not claim that our position

in space is specially distinguished in any way.”

“The colossal privilege ofbeing the centre”?

Galileo(Sidereus nuncius, 1610):

With the advent of Copernicanism, earth is no longer “excluded from the dance of the stars. For … the earth does have motion, … it surpasses the moon

in brightness, and … it is not the sump where the

universe’s filth and ephemera collect.”

Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1810):

“No discovery or opinion ever created a greater effect on the human spirit than did the teaching

of Copernicus,” for it obliged earth “to relinquish the colossal privilege of being

the center of the universe.”

The demise of the “perfect” CP

Hermann Bondi again:

“the universe presents the same aspect from

any place at any time.”

Virginia Trimble:

“There used to be a sort of ‘that’s not Copernican’ tendency to say that infalling primordial gas would keep up the supply for another ten or fifteen billion

years at least, so that ‘now’ is average. [But because] the star formation rate really has been dropping

monotonically for the last half or so of the age of the universe, we do live in a somewhat special time.”

Lawrence Krauss and Robert Scherrer:

“We live in a very special time inthe evolution of the universe:

the time at which we can observationallyverify that we live in a very

special time in the

evolution of the universe!”

Muddles about “mediocrity”

Jim Peebles:

(about the ‘other’ CP--the Cosmological Principle: the claim that our universe is isotropic and

homogeneous)

It “was introduced as a philosophical/ad hoc/working assumption. But now the observations have spoken.

The Cosmological Principle is a done deal.”

Does size matter?

Jaymie Matthews:

“Only three decades ago we believed we were composed of the basic primordial ingredients of the universe—the flour of the Cosmic Recipe. Now we are considered the condiments, or possibly (I would

like to think) the spices. … Does that make us insignificant? Only if you would prefer to dine in a

world where spices don’t exist.”

Don Page:

“It is still quite possible that life itself is cosmologically special, since it might occur only in a tiny fraction of the universe or multiverse. …

Surely, most people would recognize that sizealone, or fraction of the universe occupied by life,

is not that important.”

So maybe size isn’t such a big thing!

One resurrection and a funeral?

Max Tegmark:

CP R.I.P.

With thanks to:

Nicolaus Copernicus

Paul Davies

George Ellis

Wendy Freedman

Owen Gingerich

Lawrence Krauss

Jaymie Matthews

Don Page

Jay Pasachoff

Jim Peebles

Martin Rees

Georg Joachim Rheticus

Harvey Richer

Leonard Susskind

Max Tegmark

Virginia Trimble

Steven Weinberg