THE GRAND DESIGN

Our vision of the future is the most important characteristic that separates us from

other living organisms. We visualize a situation or a condition based on understanding of our surroundings and our knowledge of the past. We are certain that nothing lasts forever, and not only living organisms are mortal, so are other matters such as rocks and liquids. The only difference is the time that it takes for each object to decay. We know by experience that it takes milk two hours to spoil in room temperature; and it takes a plastic bottle one million years to decompose. In general, rates of change are different for each object. Therefore, change is a certainty, but the method and time of change varies. We may expand this to our galaxy and our universe and our world as a whole. Equipped with historical knowledge of our galaxy, our universe, and the events that started our world, scientists can draw a picture of the condition that determines fate of our world. Depending on how the beginning is theorized, the future can be predicted as the continuation of the same process. Some scientists have come to the conclusion that everything started at the point of the Big Bang, and anything prior to that event is dismissed as irrelevant. A few disregard the idea of the Big Bang, for a supreme munificent that created everything for a purpose not disclosed to us. Fewer scientists believe that the creator had designed everything, and the Big Bang was a part of such design. Some, including Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, speculate that it was designed by a scientifically conceivable natural and logical process, without interference by any supreme being.

The book, The Grand Design, takes the reader through the laws of physics and beyond. It is aimed at those with little or no scientific knowledge, by using simple anecdotal and humorous examples, and illustrated with pictures and caricatures. The book begins with the ancient people’s wonders of natural phenomena: “Volcanoes, earthquakes, storms, pestilences, and ingrown toenails all seemed to occur without obvious cause or pattern,” (16). A brief history of science related to inanimate objects and heavenly bodies, beginning with writings of Greek philosophers is discussed: “Conversely, they often described physical processes in legal terms and believed them to be in need of enforcement, even though the objects required to ‘obey’ the laws were inanimate. If you think it is hard to get humans to follow traffic laws, imagine convincing an asteroid to move along an ellipse,” (23). After explaining Newtonian laws, the book asks three questions: what is the origin of the laws, are there any exceptions to the laws, i.e. miracles, and is there only one set of possible laws? Each one of these questions is answered; such as the one regarding miracles: “But if one takes the biblical view, then God not only created the laws but can be appealed to by prayer to make exceptions- to heal the terminally ill, to bring premature ends to droughts, or to reinstate croquet as an Olympic sport,” (29). Free will of human being, as well for animals, is discussed next.

The following chapter discusses our view of the world in comparison with the view of the world through a fish bowl; hence by a fish imprisoned in the bowl: “Might not we ourselves also be inside some big goldfish bowl and have our vision distorted by an enormous lens,” (39)? It continues with Ptolemaic view of motion of the celestial bodies: “This model seemed natural because we don’t feel the earth under our feet moving (except in earthquakes or moments of passion),” (41). Is seeing believing? The book discusses several philosophers and scientists who did not accept any idea that could not be observed. The idea of atom was conceived by Democritus 26 centuries ago: “many in the nineteenth century rejected the idea of atoms on the grounds that we would never see one. George Berkeley (1685-1753) even went as far as to say that nothing exists except the mind and its ideas. When a friend remarked to English author and lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) that … Johnson is said to have responded by walking over to a large stone, kicking it, and proclaiming, ‘I refute it thus.’ Of course the pain Dr. Johnson experienced in his foot was also an idea in his mind..,” (45). The concept of interference is the last subject of the chapter by showing picture of waves on a body of water formed when an object is dropped in the water: “Other liquids were observed to behave in a similar fashion except perhaps wine if you’ve had too much,” (58).

In describing Feynman’s theories, some quantum principles are discussed: “it is time to examine another key quantum principle that we will use later- the principle that observing a system must alter its course. Can’t we, as we do when our supervisor have a spot of mustard on her chin, discreetly watch but not interfere? No,” (80). Can we deduce past history based on the present observation? A simple example may qualify that: “If you see that vase you bought in Italy last year lying smashed on the floor and your toddler standing over it looking sheepish, you can trace backward the events that led to the mishap: the little fingers letting go, the vase falling and exploding into a thousand pieces as it hits. In fact, given complete data about the present, Newton’s laws allow one to calculate a complete picture of the past. This is consistent with our intuitive understanding that, whether painful or joyful, the world has a definite past,” (82).

In a chapter titled “The Theory of Everything”, force field is explained: “if we ever run into beings from other planets, they will probably have the ability to ‘see’ radiation… So aliens who evolved in the presence of X-rays might have a nice career in airport security,” (91). In explaining relativity, a footnote for an illustration of earth in a global picture, and in comparison with a two-dimensional shape it reads: “The shortest distance between two points on the earth’s surface appears curved when drawn on a flat map- something to keep in mind if ever given a sobriety test,” (101). In the subject of symmetry: “In physics a system is said to have a symmetry if its properties are unaffected by a certain transformation such as rotating it in space or taking its mirror image. For example, if you flip a donut over, it looks exactly the same (unless it has a chocolate topping, in which case it is better just to eat it),” (114). And, in the subject of string theory: “They are consistent only if space-time has ten dimensions, instead of the usual four. Ten dimensions might sound exciting, but they would cause real problems if you forgot where you parked your car,” (115).

In the following chapter, a description is made of expanding universe, which is not uniform everywhere: “If we gaze upward in one direction, we might see the sun; in another, the moon or a colony of migrating vampire bats,” (126). Then, discussion is turned to other universes and whether they are similar to ours: “They aren’t just different in details, such as whether Elvis really did die young or whether turnips are a dessert food, but rather they differ even in their apparent laws of nature,” (136). Continuing in explanation of the difference between our universe and others, and their histories: “There might be one history in which the moon is made of Roquefort cheese. But we have observed that the moon is not made of cheese, which is bad news for mice. Hence histories in which the moon is made of cheese do not contribute to the present state of our universe, though it might contribute to others. That might sound like science fiction, but it isn’t,” (140).

The chapter titled “The Apparent Miracle” begins with explanation of a binary system, where there is more than one sun in a solar system, which according to the book encompasses half of all stars. Eccentricity, or the measure of an ellipse to a circle is discussed next: “if the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit were near one, our oceans would boil when we reached our nearest point to the sun, and freeze over when we reached our farthest, making neither winter nor summer vacations very pleasant,” (151).

It has been attempted in this review to point out some of the anecdotal remarks made in this book while explaining scientific subjects. Many of the interesting and amazing facts such as the rate of expansion of the universe is “about 120 orders of magnitude (a 1 followed by 120 zeroes) stronger than the actual value,” (162) are omitted however in order to avoid copying the whole book here! In the last chapter, a theory that covers all such subjects, M-theory, is offered along with the following statement about the grand design: “Because gravity shapes space and time, it allows space-time to be locally stable but globally unstable. On the scale of the entire universe, the positive energy of the matter can be balanced by the negative gravitational energy, and so there is no restriction on the creation of whole universes. Because there is a law like gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing in the manner described in Chapter 6. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going,” (180).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Grand Design- 2012 Bantam Books Trade Paperback Edition