It can be said that the great god Newton touched the ceiling of classical physics two to three hundred years in advance, and then struggled to figure it out.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons why he engaged in theological research in his later years. It can only be said that Newton was too ahead of his time.
Moreover, Bishop Berkeley in England at the same time as Newton was not simple. In order to deny the calculus invented by Newton (which was still called the flux method at that time), he proposed the famous "Berkeley Paradox", which directly led to the second
A mathematical crisis.
Can you believe it! From a bishop!
The second mathematical crisis is not difficult to understand.
A very classic difference between physics and mathematics is the treatment of infinity. There are basically no infinitesimals or infinitesimals in physics, because physics interprets nature, and there is no such terrible thing in nature, especially after Planck.
The tricky infinitesimals no longer exist.
So infinity is basically a purely mathematical concept.
The introduction of infinitesimals in mathematics is regarded as the foundation of calculus.
Bishop Berkeley really had a second thought. His target was the infinitesimal - the ghost-like dx, or the more common Δx when you first started learning calculus in middle school mathematics, which is the "very small increment".
Berkeley was just a super punch:
He gave an example. For example, when finding the square of x, the derivative of this super simple function, you first need to assume that Δx exists, that is, there is an infinitesimal increment;
Then use the square of (x+Δx) to cut off the square of x, which is the increment of the function;
Then divide the increment of the function by Δx. This is a process of derivation. But here is the problem! Because Δx is in the denominator, that means it should not be zero. Remember this conclusion.
But after the formula is simplified, it is finally 2xΔx. At this time, Δx can be zero, so that the derivative of the square of x can be calculated as 2x.
(I’ll post a picture at the end, it’s clear at a glance, it’s very simple)
This is Newton's approach, but Berkeley discovered that in this process, Δx must be both 0 and not 0; one time it is 0, and the other time it is not 0!
So weird!
Faced with this kind of operation that comes and goes at a moment’s notice, Berkeley made a very famous joke:
"The ghost of infinitesimals".
After Newton saw it, he had no choice but to avoid talking about it.
Although Berkeley's attack was to defend theology, it really caught Newton's shortcomings and hit hard to the core.
Therefore, it is known as "Berkeley's Paradox" in history, which is the beginning of the second mathematical crisis.
It's even a little touching that the bishop is in this position. 0.0
Bishop Berkeley's approach was much better than many later believers who went on to slander science.
At least they really knew themselves and their enemies so that they could win every battle, and not only did they thoroughly understand Newton's theory, but they also found the key mistakes in it.
This is simply the rigorous academic spirit that mathematics research itself most admires!
This second crisis in mathematics caused by Bishop Berkeley lasted for more than two hundred years! This man was so powerful that his name must be included in the history of mathematics.
It was not until the 1820s that a large number of top mathematicians, represented by Cauchy and Cantor, finally established rigorous limit theory and real number theory after more than half a century, and completed the logical foundation of analysis.
The second mathematical crisis was solved.
They make the infinitesimal no longer a ghost.
However... when seeing the name Cantor, the founder of set theory, some people may have guessed the follow-up.
Just when everyone was about to toast to celebrate, bad news came!
From the second mathematical crisis, set theory was born, and then...it directly led to the third mathematical crisis.
The third mathematical crisis is coming even more fiercely!
The core debate lasted until Li Yu traveled through time. To a certain extent, it is not an exaggeration to say that the third mathematical crisis shaped modern civilization.
I mentioned this to add something: It was mentioned before that physics ushered in a gap period at the beginning of the 20th century due to Planck and Einstein, the two "demolition captains of classical physics";
Mathematics at the same time was not having a good time because of Russell's Barber's Paradox in the third mathematical crisis. It was very uncomfortable!
In short, the two basic subjects of mathematics and physics at this stage are almost in the stage of nirvana and rebirth.
Fortunately, the level of Bishop Jason in front of Li Yu was obviously not comparable to that of Bishop Berkeley two hundred years ago. At least he must not understand the most cutting-edge mathematical theories today, otherwise Li Yu would be really hard to resist.
Li Yu said to Bishop Jason: "Mr. Bishop, since you have proposed Newton's discussion, you should naturally understand that science has greatly improved its theory over the past two hundred years. And the development of scientific theories has not stopped, even like an explosion.
It is also growing rapidly. It won’t be long before all unknown areas of nature will be illuminated by the light of science. This is the general trend. I don’t think the church has not felt it? Even if it has not felt it, haven’t you received God’s or
A prophet’s warning?”
Jason said: "What the Holy See means is that science can never explain the history of the entire universe."
Li Yu said: "It will happen one day."
Jason smiled and said: "How is it possible! Can humans go so far?"
Li Yu said: "There are too many scientific methods. Even if we are not millions and millions of light-years away, we can still use spectra to know the age, composition, temperature and many other information of distant stars. Can we do so many things? Is it possible?
Doesn’t the bishop think that man himself is God?”
"Oh, my God!" Jason quickly held up the Bible, "It's disrespectful for you to say that! It's even more impossible! As far as I know, humans can't even measure the diameter of a star because its hot brilliance cannot
A person who looks directly is like someone who wants to blaspheme the Lord.”
Li Yu said casually: "Nothing is impossible. If Mr. Bishop can continue to pay attention, I can quickly find the diameters of dozens of stars."
In fact, in the history of astronomy, it was not until five or six years later that astronomers such as Wilson used Planck's law of thermal radiation to calculate the diameters of some stars from stellar temperatures.
It can be seen that it was not until that time, five years after the theory of relativity was published, that people began to pay attention to Planck's very shining work.
But Li Yu didn't have these constraints.
And it was very easy for him.
Jason disagreed: "They are just small things in the telescope, how do you know their size?"
Li Yu spread his hands: "I have already said that there are really many methods of astronomy. You can pay attention to my paper. Not only the diameter of the star, I can also give more information. For example, it takes 200 million years for the sun to revolve around the Milky Way.
Wait for the data that will be of great interest to you."
"What!" Bishop Jason was shocked, "200 million years? Are you talking nonsense?"
Li Yu said: "It's almost the same. It's roughly in this order of magnitude."
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Jason said loudly, "God obviously created the world on October 18, 4004 BC, and then created humans on October 23!"
"Good guy, is there even a specific date?" Li Yu was even a little surprised.
Jason said firmly: "That's right!"
Li Yu had a dark line: "It seems that Bishop Jason did not pay attention to the Nobel Prize in Physics that was just awarded last year."
"Of course I am concerned. Are you talking about radium?" Bishop Jason said.
Li Yu said: "Not only that, but there is also radioactivity. You may still read too few of the latest scientific papers. The discovery and application of radioactivity has greatly improved the age of the earth of 100 million years estimated by Lord Kelvin half a century ago.
At least for more than a billion years, and possibly even longer."
Li Yu didn't dare to scare him, and he couldn't say that later generations would find that the age of the earth was more than 3 billion years old.
Jason did study science and engineering, but it was already ten years ago and his knowledge has not been updated. However, he knew that Lord Kelvin was a leading figure in the physics community today and a figure that the Holy See could not afford to offend.
Well, although it sounds a bit sad for the Holy See, since everyone knows that Bruno died unjustly and Galileo was wrongly convicted, the Holy See really doesn't dare to accuse great scientists casually anymore, let alone summon or even pronounce sentences.
Bishop Jason was shocked: "So, the earth and the entire solar system have circled the Milky Way many times?"
Li Yu smiled and said: "The last time I was in this position, there were still dinosaurs on the earth."
"You mean the bones of those horrible reptilian lizard-like creatures?" Jason said.
Dinosaurs are currently regarded as very scary prehistoric creatures, and they have little respect for them. They regard them as a failure of evolution. Otherwise, how could they disappear? Some documents even describe them as slow, clumsy beasts.
Li Yu pretended to be helpless and said: "I don't know if they were created by God."
Jason felt that his brain circuit could no longer be turned around and his CPU was about to burn. After thinking for a long time, he could only give up and continue to ask questions. Instead, he asked directly: "Mr. Academician, does he think science and religion should coexist peacefully?"
Li Yu immediately said: "That should be the case."
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Li Yu's attitude did not embarrass him. "I will report it to the Pope as soon as possible to discuss how to further promote this matter. I hope you can understand that the Holy See definitely needs the statements of today's well-known scientists, and
Continue to communicate more powerfully.”
Li Yu replied: "Don't worry, I can understand."
The current Holy See has really begun to think hard about how to handle the relationship between science and religion.
The current situation can only be said to be okay. In future generations, the Holy See will accept whatever science says.
DNA can actually be sequenced? I believe it!
Cloning? Single-row reproduction? Yes, I agree!
The Big Bang Theory? I...I still believe it!
Anyway, the Holy See accepts all kinds of things that completely subvert theology, from the composition of man to the birth of the world, and only seeks to coexist peacefully with science.
However, the Holy See did not lie down completely and kept looking for "evidence" in the works of the most famous physicists of the world.
The early target was Einstein, and later the most typical one may be Hawking. Theologians once praised his "A Brief History of Time" for "repeatedly mentioning God, even the last word of the text is God." Therefore, Hawking was regarded by them as the person searching for
God's Scientist.
However, "A Brief History of Time" is so famous and has extremely high sales. When I actually opened Hawking's book, what I saw was: "As long as the universe has a beginning, we can imagine the existence of a creator. However, if the universe is indeed complete
Self-sufficient, without boundaries or edges, it has neither beginning nor end - it is existence. So, is there any place for the Creator?"
Although Hawking has met the Pope and mentioned God repeatedly in the book, even the last word is God, but after reading it through, you will know that this is just a metaphor and rhetoric.
What Hawking calls God is actually nature.
From this perspective, the fact that religious scholars continue to cite Einstein, Hawking and other famous socially influential scientists' remarks about religion and God has objectively proven that religion has lost its former supreme status.
However, the decline of theology is a general trend.
If you have time to travel to Europe, you will see many famous cathedrals, but when you enter, you will find that there are not many people. Of course there are still believers, but it is no longer the situation in the Middle Ages where everyone believed.
A survey was conducted in the 1960s. In the UK, only half of the British people still believed in a human God (note this prefix), but less than 3% of them knew how to worship.
In Germany, which has many churches, one-third of the 30,000 to 40,000 churches are unsustainable.
——
After Bishop Jason left, Li Yu looked to the north. It seemed that he had to go to the Harvard Observatory.
Originally he didn't want to do this kind of astronomical measurement, which he thought was "somewhat simple", but the situation forced him to do it.
Just as Li Yu was about to leave, he suddenly thought that he didn't need to go. The Harvard Observatory had a lot of data, so he just had to send some telegrams.
Director Pickering was very happy to help after seeing Li Yu's telegram. Li Yu originally only wanted a dozen simpler and closer star data, but Pickering sent fifty at once.
Li Yu used his invincible calculator and completed the calculation of the diameters of twenty stars in a few hours.
Together with some data on the rotation speed and period of the solar system around the galactic center, it was also posted to "Science".
With the current observation capabilities, these results are already very good.
In fact, humans will have to wait until half a century later, with the development of radio astronomy, to truly know the full picture of the Milky Way (mainly the bar-shaped structure in the center). Otherwise, interstellar dust will be an obstacle that optical telescopes cannot overcome.
Jason and other bishops felt that they could not detect everything in the universe, so they probably also investigated telescope technology.
But they certainly didn't expect that the telescope technology itself was also developing, let alone that the telescope could be thrown directly into space in the future.
Of course, no matter what, the shape of the Milky Way is still speculated through science and is not actually photographed.
If the Oort cloud is used as the boundary, it will take at least tens of thousands of years for Voyager 1 to fly out of the solar system.
As for the Milky Way, even if it is a disk, the thickness of the disk is 1,000 light-years. Even if Voyager 1 can reach the fourth cosmic speed (that is, the speed of escaping from the Milky Way), it will still take hundreds of thousands of years to fly to the disk of the Milky Way.
We can't wait!
Since the last two issues of "Science" have published important content and sales have been very good, Bishop Jason went through a lot of effort to buy an additional copy.
Seeing the data above, he was completely desperate. The amount of information was too large and he couldn't wrap it up!
Bishop Jason had no choice but to write to the Holy See and the Vatican, hoping that they would come up with some truly effective measures. Instead of discussing science and religion, just take practical actions to win over the scientists, otherwise they would be really slapped in the face.