We’re not big or clever

April 20, 2009

Just been listening to the Guardian Science Weekly, one of an increasing number of podcasts that have started to take over my free listening hours (alongside In Our Time, Collins & Herring (not for the easily offended), and Adam & Joe). The guest was Christopher Potter, publisher of numerous popular science books and now author of ‘You Are Here: A Portable History of the Universe’.

I’ve not read the book yet but the discussion around it was fascinating. Potter talked about examining the known universe from the tiny to the enormous; from the sub-atomic to the galactic. It got me, and the podcast panel, thinking about how little we consider our position in the universe on these scales while we go about our everyday lives.

It could be a recipe for depression, considering how insignificant our lives are on an intergalactic scale. Or it could be a source of inspiration, recognising how much remains to be explored and learned.

Personally, I prefer the latter option.

http://www.monochro.me.uk David
You’ve just inspired me to subscribe to that podcast.
I think I feel more humbled than depressed after that sort of discussion.
I remember Dawkins doing a talk that involved the timescales of life on earth. His analogy was that if the time that life has existed on earth is the distance between your nose and the end of your middle finger, then humans have been around for a single light filing from the end of the nail.
http://www.blogger.com/profile/14874244393617982289 Tom Cheesewright
I love those analogies. There’s one about the solidity of matter: if an atom was the size of a football stadium, then its nucleus would be the size of a pea on the centre spot. Sounds so weird that I had to check it when I wrote it down, but it’s true.
http://www.blogger.com/profile/06202965564936910558 Jrescher
I love analogies. I was thinking.. semantics.
As language predates our burdgeoning scientific understanding of the universe – over the last three hundred years. Basic language seems incapable of truly describing the wonders of the universe and mathematics provides a better means of understanding. Although maths at that level, is for most people (me included, lol) too much of a stretch to comprehend. Analogies really offer us a great way of contemplating the physical world. I like the football stadium, pea analogy and the Dawkins one.. any more please?
http://www.blogger.com/profile/14874244393617982289 Tom Cheesewright
You would think that there would be a good collection of such analogies readily available on the web. But I can’t seem to find one – most of them claim to be repositories but only have one or two average ones. A gap to be filled?

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April 20, 2009