Coming of Age in the Milky Way (84 page)

conditions necessary for intelligent life on, 372–374 death of the sun and, 270

four elements as composition of, 69

mean distance from the sun (est.), 123–124

measuring velocity of, 179–180

orbit of (est.), 136–137, 138

Renaissance exploration of, 47–59

retrograde motion of, 23

stellar fusion of elements and, 279–280

triangulation of the stars and, 136–137

Eccentrics of Ptolemy, 29–30

Eddington, Arthur Stanley, 38
n
, 170, 203, 210, 211, 253, 272

Eddington’s number, 38
n

Egypt (ancient), 20

Eightfold way (hadron arrangement), 311

Einstein, Albert, 10, 11, 15, 177–178, 182–204, 211, 212, 283, 302, 364

four-dimensional space-time continuum and, 197, 198, 199–202

on Galileo, 83, 94–95

general theory of relativity of, 178, 185, 191, 196–197, 200–204

gravitation and, 120

inertial and gravitational mass and, 34, 193–196

Lemaître’s origin of the universe and, 212

on mystery of science, 385

on Newton, 103, 121

nuclear weapons and, 252, 254

quantum indeterminacy and, 290–291

quantum physics and, 178, 200

special theory of relativity of, 178, 183, 185, 191–194, 197, 200

symmetry and, 307

thought experiments of, 91, 184–185, 196–197

unified field theory and, 186, 332–333

Electromagnetic field theory, 185–188

Electromagnetism, 187, 293, 294, 295, 297

weak nuclear force and, 315, 316–318, 326, 337, 345

Electrons, 256, 257–258

early-universe theory and, 343

as fermions, 292

inflationary universe hypothesis and, 360

symmetry and, 307

Electroweak theory,
see
Unified electroweak theory

Elements atomic nuclei of, 257

big bang as source of, 272–273, 281

cosmic element abundance curve, 277, 278

stellar nuclear fusion as source of, 271–272, 275–280

in the sun, 164–165

terrestrial, 69

Elliptical nebulae, 144, 146, 148, 152, 161–162, 165

beyond the Milky Way, 175

island universe theory of, 161, 171, 172, 173

Emission lines, 164

Emission nebula, 143

Enceladus (satellite of Saturn), 156

Epicycles of Ptolemy, 29

Equinoxes, precession of, 23
n

Erikson, Leif, 56
n

Essay on the Principle of Population, The
(Malthus), 237

Euclid, 40, 41, 62, 116

Euclidean geometry, 26, 198–199

Eudoxus, 25–27, 33, 65

Evolution, theory of,
see
Darwinism

Expansion of the universe, 205–215, 354–356, 392–393

general theory of relativity and, 205, 208–209, 210–214

Exploding stars, 167

Extraterrestrial life, 368–380

conditions necessary for, 372–374

networking of interstellar communications to determine, 375–380

SETI projects and, 371–372, 374

Falling bodies, law of, 84, 90–94

Faraday, Michael, 185–186, 188, 190

Fermi, Enrico, 212, 273, 292, 374

Fermilab accelerator, 319–320, 322, 324–325, 326, 336

Fermilab Tevatron, 340

Fermions, 292, 294

bosons and, 328

Feynman, Richard, 311
n
, 352, 363

Fibonacci series, 305, 306

Ficino, Marsilio, 65, 77

Field theory, 186–187

See also
Quantum field theory; Unified field theory; Yang-Mills gauge field theory

Finite universe, infinite universe and, 200–204

First law of thermodynamics, 247

Fission bomb (atomic bomb), 252

Fitz-Roy, Robert, 233, 245

Flamsteedjohn, 115, 153, 156

Flatness problem, inflationary universe hypothesis and, 359

Fossils, scientific age-dating of, 222–229

Four-dimensional geometry, 199, 202

Four-dimensional space-time continuum, 197, 198, 199–202

Fowler, Willy, 276, 277, 278

Fraunhofer, Joseph, 10, 139, 163–164

Fraunhofer lines, 164

Free quarks, 344

Fusion bomb (hydrogen bomb), 252, 253

Galactic plane, 159

Galaxies, 167–175

quasars and, 174

redshift-distance relation of, 207–208, 209–211, 214

stars in, 144

superclusters of, 175, 214

See also
Milky Way galaxy

Galilei, Galileo, 11, 69, 71, 83–101, 107, 130, 167

Einstein and, 185

inertia experiments of, 34, 91–94

law of falling bodies and, 84, 90–94

observations of planets by, 88–90, 101

Roman Catholic Church persecution of, 11, 84, 96–100

solar system and, 88–90, 123, 132

telescope and, 84, 86–88, 95–96

thought experiments of, 90–91, 92, 93–94

velocity of light determined by, 179–180

Galilei, Vincenzo, 84

Gamma Draconis, 137, 139

Gamma rays, 293, 297

Gamow, George, 212–214, 262, 263, 264

big bang and, 273–274, 277, 279

Gauge field theory,
see
Yang-Mills gauge field theory

Gauss, Karl Friedrich, 199, 308

Gell-Mann, Murray, 294
n
, 310–311, 317, 330, 332, 336, 337, 340

General theory of relativity, 120, 178, 185, 191, 196–197, 200–204

expansion of the universe and, 205, 208–209, 210–214

quantum genesis hypothesis and, 362–363

scientific testing of, 203–204

space-time continuum of, 31, 32

string theory and, 330, 331

symmetry and, 307

Genes, natural selection and, 241–242

Geology radiometric age-dating and, 251–252

scientific age-dating and, 221–229

Geometry, 25–26, 40, 110

euclidean, 26, 198–199

four-dimensional, 199, 202

space-time, 364–365

symmetry in, 303–304

Giant stars, 70

lifetime of, 266–271

Glashow, Sheldon, 313, 314–317, 321, 326, 333

Global symmetry, 309–310

Globular star clusters, 170–171

Glossary of terms, 391–411

Gluons, 293–294, 312

Gödel, Kurt, 384, 385

Gold, 279

Gold, Thomas, 275, 338

Grand unified theories (GUTs), 327–328, 332–334

early-universe theory and, 345, 348

Gravitation, 293–298

contraction of the sun and, 247–248

Einstein’s conception of, 120

general theory of relativity and, 196–197

Kepler’s theories of, 94

Newton and, 103, 107–109, 113–118, 120–121, 177

stellar energy and, 280

string theory and, 330, 331

unified field theory and, 346

Gravitational mass, 194–195

equality of inertial mass and, 195–196

Graviton, 330

Graviton decoupling, 346
n

Great Chain of Being, 223

Greece (ancient), 20

conception of inertia in, 34–35

conception of time in, 217–220

Earth as conceived by, 26
n

Grossmann, Marcel, 190, 199–200

Guth, Alan, 356–357, 361–362

h
(quantum of action), 286, 287

Hadrons, 311, 330

Hakluyt, Richard, 128

Hale, George Ellery, 168, 208

Half-life of radioactive materials, 250–252

Halley, Edmond, 103, 112–116, 127, 128, 131, 137, 201
n

publication of the
Principia
and, 118

Halley’s comet, 70
n
, 112, 113, 117, 131

Harrison, John, 129–130

Hawking, Stephen, 356, 362–364

Heavy hydrogen, 264–265

Heisenberg, Werner, 286, 287, 288, 291, 302, 333, 351–352

Heisenberg indeterminacy principle, 351–352

Heliocentric universe Aristarchus and, 35–36, 38, 43

Copernicus and, 63–68

Kepler and, 77–82

Helium, 250, 343

big bang and, 273

composition of the sun and, 265–266

stellar fusion and, 272, 278–279

Helium-3, 264–265

Helmholtz, Hermann von, 246–247, 248

Henderson, Thomas, 139

Henry the Navigator, Prince, 50–52, 53, 54, 55

Heraclitus, 33, 367

Hereditary traits, transmission of, 242

Herman, Robert, 213, 214

Herodotus, 50–51

Herschel, John, 163, 241

Herschel, William, 143, 144, 150–159, 395

Hertzsprung, Ejnar, 259, 260

Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, 259–260, 261, 263, 266

tree of stars and, 267–270

Heyerdahl, Thor, 56n

Hipparchus, 29, 124

History of the universe, 415–429

stairway depiction of, 341–348

Hoffmann, Banesh, 179
n

Hooft, Gerard’t, 318

Hooke, Robert, 112–113, 115, 118, 137

Hooker, Joseph, 240, 244

Hoskin, Michael, 201
n

Hoyle, Fred, 211, 274–277, 278

Hubble, Edwin, 161, 172–174, 207–210, 211–212, 274

Hubble law, 208–210, 214

Hubble Space Telescope, 389–390

Huggins, William, 165, 167

Humason, Milton, 173, 274

Hume, David, 151

Hutton, James, 205, 225–226

Huxley, Aldous, 119

Huxley, Thomas, 243, 244–245, 247

Huygens, Christian, 118, 120, 125, 130, 136

Hyades (star cluster), 203, 259

Hydrogen atoms of, 256, 260

big bang and, 273

composition of the stars and, 260

composition of the sun and, 265–266

stellar fusion and, 272, 278–279

Hypatia, 42

Hyperdimensionality, 332–334

Imaginary numbers, 363

Imaginary time, 363, 364

Incompleteness theorem, Gödel’s, 384–385

Inertia ancient Greeks’ conception of, 34–35

Aristotle and, 92–94

Descartes on, 106

Einstein and, 193–195, 196

Galileo’s experiments on, 34, 91–94

Newton and, 34, 94, 116–117, 177

Inertial mass, 193–195

equality of gravitational mass and, 195–196

Infinite universe, finite universe and, 200–204

Inflationary universe hypothesis, 345, 356–360, 361, 362

model of, 275
n

Initial conditions, problem of, 122

Integer spin particles, 292

Interferometry, 180, 181

Interstellar communications network, 375–380

Interstellar space flights, 374–376

Invariance theory, 193

symmetry and, 307

Inverse-square law, 108
n

gravitation and, 117

Kepler’s third law and, 112–113, 114, 115, 117

Iron, 165, 279

stellar evolution and, 140–141

stellar fusion and, 275, 276–280

Irrational numbers, 305
n

Islamic astronomical scholarship, 43

Island universe theory of elliptical nebulae, 161, 171, 172, 173

Isospin, 31, 309

Jeans, James, 166, 167
n

John Paul II, Pope, 100
n

Jupiter, 25, 72, 112, 117

Galileo’s observation of, 88, 90

mean distance from the sun (est.), 124

satellites of, 88, 90, 158, 179

Kaluza, Theodor, 332

Kaluza-Klein theory, 332

Kant, Immanuel, 75, 143, 144–148, 150, 161, 246

Kelvin, Lord, 186, 246, 247–248, 249, 250, 280, 282

Kepler, Johannes, 66, 69, 71, 74–82, 84, 107, 136, 167, 182, 205, 346

astronomical unit estimated by, 125

date of Creation estimated by, 220

Galileo and, 94–96, 97, 98

mean distances of planets from the sun as measured by, 124

solar system and, 75, 78–82, 123

Kepler’s laws, 79–81

inverse-square law and, 112–113, 114, 115, 117

Newton’s laws and, 81, 108
n
, 112–113, 115

Keynes, John Maynard, 104

Kirchhoff, Gustav, 164–165

Klein, Oskar, 332

Kopernik, Mikolai,
see
Copernicus, Nicolaus

Koran, the, 43

Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste de, 236

Lamarckism, 236

Lambert, Johann Heinrich, 144, 149–150, 161

Laplace, Pierre-Simon de, 161, 290–291

Large Magellanic Cloud, 70, 175, 327

Law of falling bodies, 84, 90–94

Law of universal gravitation, 81

Laws of thermodynamics, 247

Lead, 279

Leavitt, Henrietta Swan, 169–170, 171, 172, 258

Le Gentil, Guillaume, 133–134

Lemaître, Georges, 210–211, 212, 214, 274

Leptons, 294–296, 350

Light as electromagnetic field, 187
n
, 188

velocity of, 179–180

Light-year, 38

Linde, Andrei, 393–394

Linear time, 220–225

Lithium, 278, 343

Little Dipper, 57

Lobachevski, Nikolai Ivanovich, 199

Local Group of galaxies, 175

Local symmetry, 309–310

Locke, John, 118, 119, 223

Longitude, determination of, 128–130

Lookback time, 174

Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon, 181, 182, 191, 197, 203

Lorentz contractions, 181–182

special theory of relativity and, 181, 191

Lucretius, 33, 90
n
, 201, 369

Luther, Martin, 67, 369

Lyell, Charles, 217, 225, 226–229

Darwin and, 229, 231, 232, 239, 242, 243, 244

Mach, Ernst, 190–191, 386

Magellan, Ferdinand, 48, 56
n
, 59

Magellanic Clouds, 70, 169–170, 171, 175, 327

Magnesium, 165, 272

Magnetic monopoles, 356–357

Malthus, Thomas, 237

Many body problem, 121

Mars, 117

Kepler’s study of, 78–79

life on, 394

mean distance from the sun (est.), 124

measurement of diameter of, 125

retrograde motion of, 24, 25

spacecraft mission to, 371

triangulation of, 126, 130

Mason, Charles, 132–133

Mass inertia and, 193–195, 196

Newton’s laws and, 116–117

relativistic time dilation and, 192–193

Mathematical Syntaxis
(Ptolemy), 28–29

Matter building blocks of, 294–296