Mississauga Astronomical Society

52nd Meeting

Speaker’s’ Night

 

Day:                December 2, 2005

 

Speaker:     Ian McGregor

                  

                              

 

Beauty, Pattern and Design in a Violent Universe

 

Ian McGregor, the Vice-president of the Mississauga Astronomical Society and former President of the Toronto Centre R.A.S.C. is the astronomy educator at the Royal Ontario Museum.

 

Ian’s talk considered the universe from the standpoint of beauty, pattern and design.  We are fortunate that astronomy is such a beautiful subject.  On the other hand, it is a humbling experience to study the universe because we realize that we don’t know much at all.  Modern day professional astronomers are not observers of the sky; in fact, most of the professionals in the last 35 years have been theoreticians.  As a result, amateurs have an advantage over them in knowing the sky. 

 

We can ask questions about the universe.  How did it begin?  Did it begin?  What is its shape?  Are there other universes?  Is the universe comprehensible or beyond our ability to understand?    The current revolution of understanding is answering the question as to the shape of the universe.  Ian distinguished between cosmology - study of the large scale of the universe and cosmogony - its evolution.   A major idea of the last 1000 years is that the universe is vast and the Earth has no special place in it.  Human experience on the Earth’s surface is much different than the universe as a whole. 

 

We see beauty in the natural world in the symmetry of a leaf or shell, in celestial occurences such as a comet, constellation or eclipse.  A mathematical equation such a the attraction due to gravity or the curvature of space time is also beautiful.  It is the pattern that we recognize that makes something beautiful. 

 

Ian pointed out that there are about ten basic patterns to maximize the use of space.  The greatest constraint on nature is space which used to be considered as empty but currently to thought to change things in it.  In turbulence, details cannot be predicted such as in the formation of the solar system, weather, galaxy spirals.  Stress and flow can be seen in electric and magnetic fields.  Spirals occur in nautulus shells, galaxies, plants.  Meanders are slow moving patterns with low energy.  Explosions occur in supernovae.  Branches are found in trees, lightening and nebulae.  

 

The ancient Greeks used gods to explain the cosmology or order of the universe.  Their mythology sought to find the design of nature.  Eventually, Ptolemy postulated a universe centered on the Earth, an idea which persisted for 1500 years and which was supported by the Catholic Church.  The 1st revolution in cosmology took place with the Copernican theory.  Not until 1822, did the Church accept this new cosmology which added order and laws to explain the workings of nature.  The 2nd cosmological revolution was brought about in 1929 when Edwin Hubble showed that the universe was expanding and the Big Bang was postulated.  In 1948 the first attempt to measure the temperature of the universe was made and in 1965 the cosmic background was discovered.   The 3rd cosmological revolution took place in 1997 when observations of distant supernovae showed that the universe is expanding and in 1998 when the expansion was shown to be speeding up.  What is the repulsive force that makes the universe expand?  Ian discussed supersymmetry, dark energy and dark matter. 

 

For some people the beauty of the universe implies a designer.  The rules are not exact however, and there are many contradictions in nature.  As a result we do not see any design in the universe.  Ian mentioned the scientist/writer Dawkins and his ideas about the illusion of design and the mimicking of design in the universe.  He showed examples of patterns using images of supernova remnants.  

 

 

Submitted by Chris Malicki, Secretary  Chris Malicki, Secretary                               back to M.A.S. meeting reports page
Mississauga Astronomical Society