The Universe and Dr. Einstein. Lincoln Barnett.

The Universe and Dr. Einstein
Lincoln Barnett
New York: Time Inc. Book Division
1957 (1948)

Why read it? Haven't you always wondered about what Einstein said concerning the universe? Well, after reading this book, you probably won't still be able to talk about it at cocktail parties, but Barnett does shed light on Einstein's ideas. And after you have read even these highlights, you will be struck again with the wonder of the universe in which we live and the intelligence of the one who created it.

We can no longer know the reality of the world around us through our senses. It can only be described by mathematical equations. Equations were the method by which the atomic bomb was developed.

When man attempts to observe his universe, he changes it because he is part of that universe.

Since everything in the universe is moving, there is no stationary frame of reference to use in measuring its motion. Nothing moves faster then light.

E=mc squared. Mass becomes energy at the square of the speed of light and becomes radiation. "[This] extraordinary relationship becomes more vivid when its terms are translated into concrete values: i.e., one kilogram of coal (about two pounds), if converted entirely to energy, would yield 25 billion kilowatt hours of electricity or as much as all the power plants in the U.S. could generate by running steadily for two months." "In other words matter is energy and energy is matter, and the distinction is simply one of temporary state. Matter and energy are interchangeable." Man turned mass into energy at Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945.

Magnets do not attract. They create a field that operates on the piece of iron. Stars, the moon and other celestial objects also create fields that operate on them.

The Einstein universe is curved, but can't be visualized, can only be described mathematically.

The process of finding the unity beneath reality began with the 90 elements, then reducing those to electromagnetic forces and then to space, time, matter, energy and gravitation; then Einstein in Special Relativity showed the equivalence of matter and energy and in General Relativity, the indivisibility of space and time. This urge to find the unity behind the variability of the universe is the passion of science and the human intellect. However, as this unity is discovered, reality becomes even more remote from direct experience.

Concepts like gravitation, electromagnetism, energy, current, momentum, the atom and the neutron are theoretical concepts that are metaphors, inadequately described, because we lack direct experience with them.

Some sample ideas:
"From the outset, he [Barnett] realized he could not proceed at once to Princeton to interview Dr. Einstein, for he did not have the faintest notion of what questions to ask.... began to read everything he could find on Einstein and relativity." Editors of Time. "In the midst of his [Barnett's] researches, he began going to Princeton--not to see Einstein, but to see others who could prepare him to see Einstein." Editors of Time. "The daring nature of Einstein's concepts, the revolution they had wrought in the entire structure of physical and philosophical thought, the radical way in which they had redesigned the architecture of the universe--all this somehow had to be communicated to a wider audience." Editors of Time. "There are two reasons for writing a book on science for the genreal public...first...is to further man's understanding of the universe he lives in, whatever his background or education...second is to encuroage young people to study science by giving them a better appreciation of its importance and implications." Glenn T. Seaborg.

"In accepting a mathematical description of nature, physicists have been forced to abandon the ordinary world of experience, the world of sense perception." "Questions involving the relationship between observer and reality, subject and object, have haunted philosophical thinkers since the dawn of reason." "It is the mathematical orthodoxy of the universe that enables theorists like Einstein to predict and discover natural laws simply by the solution of equations." "...the prime mysteries of nature dwell in those realms farthest removed from the 'real' objective world, he changes and distorts its workings by the very process of his observation."

"...the equations of quantum physics define more accurately than any mechanical model the fundamental phenomena beyond the range of vision.... [Equations] work, as the calculations which hatched the atomic bomb spectacularly proved." "...nothing can ever move faster than light, no matter what forces are applied." "...the velocity of light is the top limiting velocity in the universe." "...we can't feel our motion through space; nor has any physical experiment ever proved that the earth actually is in motion." "Motion is a relative state...unless there is some system of reference to which it may be compared...."

Quote: "If matter sheds its mass and travels with the speed of light, we call it radiation or energy; and conversely, if energy congeals and takes on a different form, we call it matter.... Since July 16, 1945, man has been able to transform one into the other.... On that night at Alamagordo, New New Mexico, man, for the first time transmuted a substantial quantity of matter into the light, heat, sound, and motion which we call energy."

Quote: "In the Einstein universe there are no straight lines, there are only great circles.... Like most of the concepts of modern science, Einstein's finite spherical universe cannot be visualized.... Its properties can be described mathematically."

Quote: Einstein: "My religion...consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds....deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God."