Re: The Universe

["Carl C. Gaither" <cgaither@N-LINK.COM>]

Hi Jim--

Agreement by whom?  In asking whether the universe is open or closed brings to
mind a quote by Robert Vas Dias who wrote: "The premise...is that outer space
is as much a territory of the mind as it is a physical concept."  This can be
found on p. xxxix of his book Inside Outer Space.  Can one with certainty
disregard the old Hubble-Humason Law which indicates that the universe appears
to be expanding about us in all directions.  However, my mind, as probably do
many people's mind, recoils at the thought that the universe somewhere
terminates.  Unfortunately, my mind also falters at the opposite alternative,
that is, that space never ends.  While we have a great amount of work
pertaining to the question of an open or closed universe I believe that, in the
words of Paul, "We know in part, and we prophesy in part.

Maybe we will always be constrained by Woody Allen's statement of "Can we
actually 'know' the universe?  My God, it's hard enough finding your way around
in Chinatown."

I am not a cosmologist but firmly believe that we are at present living in the
prehistory of any understanding of this universe.  Hence, it is my opinion that
we are at too early of a stage to make a decision as to whether it is infinite
or not.  We are still faced with the same situation, and also the same answer,
to this concern that was written almost 80 years ago in an editorial in the
Scientific American of March 12, 1921.  It read "It is obvious that we must
regard the universe as extending infinitely, forever, in every direction; or
that we must regard it as not so extending.  Both possibilities go beyond us."
In closing, my opinion pertaining to this complex question is probably most in
accord with the opinion of V. Tremble when he wrote:  "Those of us who are not
directly involved in the fray can only suppose that the universe is open on
Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday and closed on Thursday, Saturday, and Monday.
(Tuesday is choir practice.)

Jim Green wrote:

> >         Now, on to what I profess to know something about - the universe.
> > Whether
> > the universe is finite or infinite in size, in principle depends
> > fundamentally on whether it is open or closed.
>
> Is there agreement here on the above?
>
> Jim Green
> mailto:JMGreen@sisna.com
> http://users.sisna.com/jmgreen

--
Carl C. Gaither and Alma E. Cavazos-Gaither
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/StatBook/
Authors of:
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Physically Speaking: Quotations about Physics and Astronomy
Mathematically Speaking: Quotations about Mathematics
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Scientifically Speaking: Quotations about Science
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