From Stars to States by Thierry J.-L. Courvoisier

Author:Thierry J.-L. Courvoisier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Science as a Classical Aesthetic

Science is accessible to all and can always be debated. These are without doubt two of its strongest points. The price to pay for this achievement is a certain simplicity in the construction. Of all the ideas and concepts, the only ones to remain are those that can stand up to examination. The aesthetics of the resulting construction are thus closer to classical simplicity than to baroque extravagance. There are of course sticking points, features that look very much as though they don’t belong, or are not really necessary for the construction. This is often the sign that new elements must be added to those already in place so that the whole thing can become consistent once more.

Paradoxically, one of the main difficulties in particle physics in the twenty-first century lies in the fact that the theory seems to be complete and provides a good explanation for the results of experiments in accelerators like the ones at CERN. This physics gives a good account of the matter we know, including protons, electrons, and other elementary particles, whereas we have learnt from astrophysical observations that 95% of the matter in the Universe actually escapes this description. The existing theory has few outstanding difficulties that might lead us toward a new model that could also encompass the exotic forms of matter which astronomy has revealed to us and which we have not yet been able to identify in our laboratories.

This monument we call scientific knowledge is characterised by classical simplicity rather than the frills and ostentation of the baroque. But classicism is not devoid of harmony or aesthetics. Elegance is a characteristic feature of any theory giving a satisfactory description of some aspect of reality. Some will go as far as to say that there is no “true” theory that is not elegant. Elegance, aesthetics, and harmony are profoundly human values, although for all we know irrational. However, the world as described by our science exists quite independently of us. By relating these two kinds of notion, we obtain a striking illustration of the fact that we ourselves belong to the physical world. This is probably what the author of Genesis wanted to say when asserting that man was made in the image of the Creator.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.