MOTION MOUNTAIN

292 9 concepts, lies and patterns of nature
tradictthelawsorrulesofnature”–“exceptionstotherulesofnatureexist”–“quantum
theoryimpliesmanyworlds” – “therearenomeasurementlimits” – “infinitequantities
exist in nature” – “supersymmetry is valid” – “particles are membranes” – “a multiverse
exists” – “mind is stronger than matter”. Other lies and many funny prejudices
and superstitions are mentioned throughout our adventure.
Challenge 306 e
∗∗
The British Broadcasting Corporation is famous for its April 1st pranks. One of the best
ever is its documentary on flying penguins. Simply search on the internet for the beautiful
filmshowinghowaspeciesofpenguinstakesoff andflies.
Ref. 263
Ref. 264
observations and their collection
“Knowledgeisasophisticatedstatementof
ignorance.
Attributed toKarl Popper”
The collection of a large number of true statements about a type of observations, i.e.,
of a large number of facts, is called knowledge. Where the domain of observations is
sufficiently extended, one speaks of a science. A scientist is thus somebody who collects
knowledge.* We found above that an observation is classified input in the memory of
several people. Since there is motion all around, to describe all these observations is a
mammoth task. As for every large task, to a large extent the use of appropriate toolsdetermines
the degree of success that can be achieved. These tools, in physics and in all
other sciences, fall in three groups: tools for the collection of observations, tools to communicate
observations and tools to communicate relations between observations. The
latter group has been already discussed in the section on language and on mathematics.
We just touch on the other two.
Have enough observations been collected?
“Everygeneration isinclinedtodefine ‘theend
ofphysics’ ascoincidentwith theendoftheir
scientificcontributions.
Julian Schwinger**”
* The term ‘scientist’ is a misnomer peculiar to the English language. Properly speaking, a ‘scientist’ is a
follower of scientism, an extremist philosophical schoolthat tried to resolveall problems through science.
Forthis reason,some religious sectshavethe term in their name. Sincethe Englishlanguage didnot have
a shorter term to designate ‘scientific persons’, as they used to be called, the term ‘scientist’ started to
appearintheUnitedStates,fromtheeighteenthcenturyonwards.NowadaysthetermisusedinallEnglishspeaking
countries –but notoutside them,fortunately.
** Julian Seymour Schwinger (b. 1918 New York City, d. 1994LosAngeles), child prodigy and physicist,
was famous for his clear thinking and his excellent lectures. He worked on waveguides and synchroton
radiation, made contributions to nuclear physics and developed quantum electrodynamics. For the latter
hereceivedthe1965NobelPrizeinPhysicstogetherwith TomonagaandFeynman.Hewasathesisadvisor
tomanyfamousphysicistsandwroteseveralexcellentandinfluentialtextbooks. Nevertheless,attheendof
hislife,hebecame strangelyinterestedin ahoaxturned sour:coldfusion.
Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–November 2015 free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net