18 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Universe as a Library with Atoms as Words
The words are strung together, with their own special grammar—the laws of quantum theory—to form sentences, which are molecules. Soon we have books, entire libraries, made out of molecular “sentences.” The universe is like a library in which the words are atoms. Just look at what has been written with these hundred words! Our own bodies are books in that library, specified by the organization of molecules—but the universe and literature are organizations of identical, interchangeabl...And look what has been written with just a hundred words.
09 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Faraday Predicts the Electric Nature of the Atom
Although we know nothing of what an atom is, yet we cannot resist forming some idea of a small particle, which represents it to the mind ... there is an immensity of facts which justify us in believing that the atoms of matter are in some way endowed or associated with electrical powers, to which they owe their most striking qualities, and amongst them their mutual chemical affinity.Summarizing his investigations in electrolysis.
28 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Do Not Extrapolate Macro-Philosophy from Quantum Phenomena
Many scientists have tried to make determinism and complementarity the basis of conclusions that seem to me weak and dangerous; for instance, they have used Heisenberg's uncertainty principle to bolster up human free will, though his principle, which applies exclusively to the behavior of electrons and is the direct result of microphysical measurement techniques, has nothing to do with human freedom of choice. It is far safer and wiser that the physicist remain on the solid ground of theoreti...People try to infer that the uncertainty principle means we have free will, but the principle only applies to the behavior of electrons.