SCIENCE – Page 5 – REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE

M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction)

The near assassination of Trump is a harbinger of a world unduly influenced by today’s technology and media influence.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“Playing with Reality”

By: Kelly Clancy

Narrated By: Patty Nieman

Kelly Clancy (Author, graduate of MIT in physics with a Ph.D. in biophysics from U.C. Berkley.)

Kelly Clancy has a distinct point of view as a scientist. Her understanding of game theory and the mathematics of probability may steer reader/listeners away from her interesting book. “Playing with Reality” is less like playing and more like hard work, at least in the first chapters. Clancy begins by defining game theory and its permutations. Then she explains how it is a flawed tool for understanding human behavior. As one gets through the first chapters of her book, a reader/listener realizes Clancy is offering more than gaming theory history.

Clancy offers a detailed history of the growth of computer technology through the use of gaming programs designed to educate, entertain, and enrich private companies, public conglomerates, and individuals.

Clancy reveals the growth of chess playing gaming programs like Deep Thought, Big Blue, and Deep Blue to expose the battle line between human and artificial intelligence. Clancy is a skeptic of gaming technology–with a warning.

Clancy’s skepticism lies in mistaking game-theory’ studies as proof of predictive human behavior.

Clancy notes human behavior is not predictable for many reasons; one of which is human irrationality, and another is a human’s sense or understanding that he/she is being manipulated for prescribed responses. For example, in the first instance, a person may be irrationally afraid of all snakes even though there are no poisonous snakes in their State. In the second instance, a person who knows the theory of something like the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” can choose to modify their behavior and respond based on knowledge of previous experimental studies.

John von Neumann (1903-1957, Hungarian American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath.)

The troubling part (the warning) revealed by Clancy is that brilliant people like John von Neumann, an intellectual giant of the twentieth century, can have bad ideas. Clancy notes von Neuman considered preemptively nuking the Soviet Union because he reasoned it would (and it did) successfully create a nuclear bomb soon after America’s bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Neuman presumably considered this a rational option based on game-theory thinking.

Today, one wonders what Russia’s leader is capable of with nuclear weapons if he considers them just another tool of war.

Clancy notes Putin, like the President of the United States, is legislatively authorized to unilaterally choose to use nuclear weapons to protect what they believe is a threat to their countries. The gaming industry and the growth of A.I. are not the problem. Human nature is the problem. There are not enough checks and balances to keep well intentioned Presidents or bad actors from making bad decisions.

Clancy shows how the computer gaming industry has obscured the tragic consequence of violence by returning murdered life in a game back to life so they can play the game again. The game is not real, but the lesson is that gun violence is ok because it is just a game that can be replayed. Computer gaming has become a gateway to violence in the world. Easy access to guns is a problem in America but guns are instruments of violence, not the cause of violence. Among the causes are, poor education, poverty, mental dysfunction, and gaming that distorts reality.

Political position and power are dangerous in the face of human irrationality, a not uncommon characteristic of intelligent, ill-informed, or uncaring political leaders. In this age of computer drones and face recognition, three American citizens, one Iranian citizen, and an Egyptian’ Al Quada leader were killed by drone strikes at the order of American Presidents.

These murders may or may not have been justified but they exemplify the danger of gaming, face recognition, and the future of artificial intelligence. Clancy tempers her assessment of gaming in the last chapters of her book, but some will come away from her positive comments with a sick feeling in their stomach.

The near assassination of former President Trump is a harbinger of a world unduly influenced by today’s technology and media influence.

DARWIN’S THEORY

To Carl Woese, Darwin’s theory of evolution was, at the least, horribly misleading.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“The Tangled Tree” A Radical New History of Life

By: David Quammen

Narrated By: Jacques Roy

David Quammen (Author, Yale University graduate, Rhodes scholar, fiction and non-fiction nature and science writer and historian.)

Quammen’s history of the discovery of a new form of life is interesting and enlightening. Archaea cells are not discovered until 1977 at the University of Illinois. Archaea are neither animal nor vegetable but resemble bacteria, a single-celled prokaryote. Archaea are prokaryotic (without a nucleus), like bacteria. There seem to be two differences between Archaea and bacteria. Archaea often thrive in extreme environments by using ether-linked lipids while bacteria only use ester-linked lipids. The difference has to do with how these prokaryotes bond to lipid molecules.

Archaea are believed to have set a boundary for evolutionary diversity in earth’s early extreme environment.

Archaea are believed to have played a role in the transition and adaptations that allowed life to change and flourish. The suggestion is that archaea were instrumental in creating a “The Tangled Tree” of life. Archaea, like bacteria, are everywhere in the soils and water of earth. Through chemical processes, they moderate global carbon and nutrients that exist in the world’s ecosystem. Some suggest life would have evolved without archaea but their role in earth’s early existence seems especially relevant because of early earth’s extreme environments.

Carl Woese (1928-2012, American microbiologist and biophysicist.)

Quammen introduces Carl Woese, the evolutionary biologist who revealed archaea as a third form of life. Woese challenges Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution because this third domain of life, alongside bacteria and eukaryotes, fundamentally changed representation of life as a branching tree. Archaea are similar to bacteria in that they are procaryotic (singular cells with no nucleus). However, archaea have cell wall differences. Archaea cannot perform photosynthesis, they reproduce by fission, and interact with DNA and RNA differently. What is discovered about archaea is that like bacteria, they can transfer genetic information horizontally, i.e. directly affecting the evolutionary characteristics of species.

The idea of descendent inheritance is not overturned but hugely expanded with archaea becoming a part of the process of evolution.

Archaea, like a bacterium can infect living things but as a genetic cell, archaea can initiate inheritance. To stretch one’s imagination, archaea might be transmitted between a human and a pet like a bacterium but with the potential of inheritable characteristics. Like learned behavior, the inference is there is a possible exchange of archaea cells between humans and pets that may change behavior of one or the other. The inference is that a pet dog may exhibit the behavior of its owner, not only because of learned behavior, but because of archaea transfer.

The idea of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) by archaea tangles the tree of life in ways that make natural selection a lottery as well as a parental inheritance.

Quammen touches on discovery of CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) which is a powerful technology that allows precise gene editing of an organism. As science discovers the genetic origin of disease and animal kingdom vulnerability, gene editing has the potential of saving or destroying life.

Quammen turns back to the age-old question about the beginning of life on earth. What came first and how did eukaryotes evolve into sentient beings? A suggestion made by some and recalled by the author is Loki’s Castle, a hydrothermal vent in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Here, a thermophile, which is an archaeon, may have been life’s trigger that began evolution.

To Carl Woese, Darwin’s theory of evolution was, at the least, horribly misleading. Today, Darwin’s “Origin of Species” remains a seminal work of evolutionary science. Darwin’s work was based on observations during the voyage of the Beagle in the 1830s. Admittedly, natural selection from a common ancestor was not the whole story but it opened the door for further investigation and scientific proof.

CHARLES DARWIN (1809-1882) FOUNDER OF THE THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.

Woese and other biologists owe much to Darwin’s early observation and theory of evolution. Science begins with theory and evolves with proof, demonstrated by repeatable experimental results. Darwin gave the world the theory. Biologists have been working on the proof ever since.

BIODIVERSITY

Human population growth is slowing, and awareness of biodiversity is improving but is the trajectory of global warming outpacing human action?

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“Biology: The Science of Life“

Author: Great Book Series

Narrated By: Professor Stephen Nowicki

Stephen Nowicki, Ph.D. (Bass Fellow and Professor of Biology @ Duke University, Associate Chair of the Dept. of Biology and Neuroscience.)

This is a dauting series of lectures with a theory of the beginning of life. It addresses living things in general but more specifically what is known about human life. Not surprisingly, it is immensely complicated.

There may have been an Adam and Eve in history, but Science infers any garden of Eden had to have been long after the beginning of life on earth.

Nowicki explains how Stanley Miller conducted an experiment in 1952 that simulated conditions of the early days of earth’s formation. Methane, ammonia, hydrogen, and water were present in those early days. These ingredients were used in a controlled environment, with the help of energy (primordial lightening), to combine into amino acid compounds that are essential to life. These basic chemicals were present in the early days of earth. These amino acid compounds are the building blocks of life.

With amino acids, it became possible for DNA and RNA formation. DNA and RNA are shown to synthesize proteins leading to cellular process and organic development.

From these early beginnings, a natural selection process is initialized, i.e. evolution began which led to complex organisms like viruses, bacteria, animals, and eventually humans. Nowicki goes on to explain the complex biology of science. This is a point at which understanding by a lay reader/listener becomes difficult and only partially comprehensible. He begins with a detailed discussion of genetics, the study of genes, their discovery and function.

With the help of Rosalind Franklin (lower right), Watson (lower left) and Crick came up with the double helix model made of deoxyribose sugar that alternates with phosphate group strands.

The most famous pioneers of genetics are James Watson and Francis Crick. The genetic model they created reveals the backbone (organizational structure) of genes. With addition of nucleotides (adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine) to the gene backbone, genetic instructions are encoded by single strands of RNA into double strands of DNA. RNA’s single strands direct ribosomes that prevent mutation and maintain genetic integrity.

Nowicki jumps back in history to explain Darwin’s theory and proof of evolution. In addition, he recounts Gregory Mendel’s discovery of genetic inheritance. (Though Darwin and Mendel were contemporaries, it is not believed they ever met.) Mendel found, in breeding pea plants, that pea plants inherited certain traits of their parent plants with first generation plants having one color flower while second generation had 1/3rd to 2/3rd color differences that experimentally suggest inheritability of appearance. Mendel had no knowledge of genetics but was aware of Darwin’s writing. Ironically, Mendel discovered that inheritance had distinct genetic units of dominant and recessive characteristics explained how second-generation pea plants had mixed colors. This inheritable element of a gene became known as an “allele”, a word coined by British geneticist William Bateson in the early 1900s.

A listener/reader is only 1/4 of the way through Nowicki’s lectures at this point. Many of the remaining lectures delve into the details of gene function that will be interesting to biology students but only confuse and tire a dilettante.

To this reviewer, the two most enlightening features of Nowicki’s lectures are his views on the origin of human life and the ecological loss of biodiversity that threatens human existence. Nowicki challenges religious belief in the origin of life with a convincing argument for nature’s creation of human existence. His last lecture addresses global warming, reduced biodiversity, and the consequences of a loss of earth’s laboratory of medicinal cures for human ailments.

Nowicki leaves listener/readers with belief in humanity’s and earth’s environmental correction but with reservation. Human population growth is slowing, and awareness of biodiversity is improving but is the trajectory of global warming outpacing human action?

UNENDING PURSUIT

Science is an unending pursuit of knowledge that is refined and advanced by new techniques of examination.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“Gene Machine“

Author: Venki Ramakrishnan

Narrated By: Matthew Waterson

Venki Ramakrishnan (Author, British-American structural biologist, shared 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas A Steitz and Ada Yonath.)

“Gene Machine” tells reader/listeners of the discovery of the structure of ribosomes. Ribosomes are elemental cellular organisms (organelles) made up of proteins within living cells. They are genetic factories that process protein within the body. Without ribosomes, life as we know it, would not exist. Ribosomes repair cellular damage, maintain cell structure, and direct chemical processes within the body.

In the 20th century, after years of research, Ada Yonath, Venki Ramakrishnan, and Thomas Steitz discover clues to the structure of Ribosomes. Ramakrishnan story is about the complex process of scientific discovery. He reveals how scientists are motivated by the same desires of all humanity; namely money, power, and/or prestige. This is “the way” of the world, whether its religion, science, or society.

To the lay reader/listener, Ramakrishnan’s story is most interesting because it illustrates science research is more than a quest for knowledge. Curiosity and thrill of discovery are important, but it is the reward of being first and the accompanying money, power, and prestige that are scientists’ greatest reward.

Ramakrishnan somewhat ambivalently acknowledges Ada Yonath is the first scientist to recognize the critical role of ribosomes in genetic engineering. Ms. Yonath pioneers the use of crystallization in studying the elusive ribosome existence. However, Yonath fails to reveal a clear picture of the ribosome because of repeating the same chemical means of freezing the image of the elusive organelle. Ramakrishnan and his team of graduate students manage to come up with a chemistry formula that clears the image enough to make the structure of ribosomes more accurate.

Thomas Steitz helped perfect x-ray crystallography to more clearly map the structure of ribosomes.

Steitz’ work justified his inclusion in the Nobel award. The significance of Ramakrishnan’s story to a non-scientist is his unabashed and self-effacing humility when explaining his role in discovering the structure and purpose of ribosomes.

One wonders if Ramakrishnan harbors an opinion that Yonath’s pioneering of ribosome research is overblown.

Ramakrishnan criticizes Ada Yonath for being too verbose when participating in public conferences by recalling a conference that limited presenters to 15 minutes. Ramakrishnan explains Yonath went on for over 30 minutes despite the audiences expressed discontent. In the end, he acknowledges Yonath’s role in being among the first to suggest ribosome research was important. She was the first to use crystallography to identify its structure. Ramakrishnan notes those two facts justify her Nobel’ selection.

Ramakrishnan suggests winning a Nobel opens doors to opportunities that are unjustified in ways that have little to do with the specific work or a particular discovery.

Ramakrishnan explains much of the public think a winner of a Nobel could talk about any scientific subject with expertise. He notes the Nobel Prize is a great honor but is proffered to scientists that have achieved a finite discovery in a specific discipline, not a general understanding of all science. He goes on to explain how his country of birth (India), the country of England, and one suspects America, wish to claim him as representative of their countries–when, in fact, he is an individual who achieved success by dint of hard work, the help of others, and personal discipline. Ramakrishnan’s story explains how he pursued understanding of crystallography because it could help him achieve a goal. His point seems that the hard work of many scientists, not nationality or Nobel recognition, are keys to successful science research.

Ramakrishnan story is about science as an unending pursuit of knowledge that is refined and advanced by new techniques of examination.

In today’s science research, chemistry of crystallography is made less valuable with the invention of the atom-level microscope that offers direct, firsthand observations of the structure of human organelles like the ribosome. Ramakrishnan suggests science is an eternal search for knowledge.

RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCE

Is belief in God worth it? Cook’s history of Muslimism and knowledge of Christianity makes one wonder.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“A History of the Muslim World From its origins to the Dawn of Modernity”

By: Michael Cook

Narrated By: Ric Jerrom

Michael A. Cook (British historian, scholar of Islamic History)

Professor Cook overwhelms one with a voluminous examination of the Muslim World. His history really begins before the birth of the Arab prophet, Muhammad (570-632). However, it is after Muhammed’s revelations and his departure from Mecca in 610 CE, when he and his followers settle in Medina (622) that a more documented history is revealed. Arabs are identified as a nomadic tribe who occupied the Arabian Peninsula, Syrian Desert, North, and Lower Mesopotamia in the mid-9th century BCE. However, notable territorial regions first appeared in the 14th century BCE with the Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian Empires. Cook suggests it is in the 7th century CE that Islam became a force in the Middle East. After the Prophet Muhammad’s death in 1632, the Rashidun Caliphate established itself (632-661 CE).

The Rashidun Caliphate boundaries.

The messenger of Allah is Muhammed. Muhammed was an Arab. Born in 540 CE in Mecca, Arabia (now Saudi Arabia), Muhammed is considered by Muslim’s the last messenger of Allah. Though Muhammed could neither read nor write, his counsel with scribes resulted in the equivalent of the Christian Bible, called the Quran, which is alleged to reflect the word of the Supreme creator of life, the world, and the hereafter. This is different than the scribes of the Christian Holy Bible. However, the Holy Bible’ and Quran’ texts offer the same confusion about their meaning because these holy books have first, second, third, and later-hand writings of scribes.

(REVIEWER’S NOTE: Scribes recreated fragmentary writings and legends of long-dead contemporaries of Christ in the case of the Holy Bible, just as the thoughts of the “last messenger of Allah” were recorded by scribes. Modern science experiments explain human minds do not precisely record or recall the past. The human mind recreates the past and fills any gaps that may arise to complete the mind’s imprecise memory. That is why scribes of biblical or unbiblical history are interpretations of facts of the past, and not necessarily accurate facts of the past.)

With the conclusion of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire was dissolved, and modern Arab nation-states were formed.

With the Ottoman Empire’s dissolution, Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Montenegro, and Macedonia were formed. Three Arab nation-states came out of the Ottoman Empire’ dissolution. They were Syria, Iraq, and Transjordan (now Jordan).

Interestingly, modern states with the highest number of Arab speaking residents are Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Only Egypt and Sudan have more than 10% of their population who use Arabic as their primary language. The point of this realization is that Professor Cook is writing a history of the Muslim religion, not Arab culture.

However, there seems little doubt that the 6 major Arab tribes of earlier centuries were the vessels of change for Muslim’ belief and practice. Arab tribes existed as far back as 6000 BCE. By 1200 BCE, they had established settlements and camps that formed into Kingdoms.

Arab tribal land extended from the Levant to Mesopotamia and Arabia.

Cook infers Arabs spread the Muslim religion to northern Africa and throughout the Asian continent while crossing the Mediterranean to influence, but not convert, southern Spain. Cook illustrates how Muslim’ belief shaped human history and culture. An estimated 55% of the world population identifies itself as Christian, or Muslim. Hinduism constitutes 15%, Buddhism 7%, with the remaining religions in lower single digits.

**What Cook shows is how Muslim belief (24% of the world population) impacted the world.**

Cook begins to explain the split between Sunni and Shia religious belief. In the modern world, only Iran, Bahrain, Yemen, and Iraq have Shia-majority populations with a significant Shia community in Lebanon and Afghanistan. Sunni religious belief is practiced by a majority population in nearly 20 countries with a mixture in Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Eritrea, Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan.

A surprising observation by Cook is the impact of a language change in the Middle East. Persian (aka Farsi) became a bridge connecting the diverse communities and histories of the Middle East. This change largely took place between the 9th and 11th centuries. It significantly impacted Muslim cultural beliefs and Iranian culture in general.

Cook implies the colloquialization of translations by Farsi (the language of Persia) of Arab Caliphate’ triumphs and failures molded beliefs of Middle Eastern nation-states. Countries like Iran either adopted or rejected Farsi’ stories of accomplishments and failures by Arab Caliphates. Some failure is associated with moral turpitude, a falling away from Qur’anic teaching, translated into Farsi language.

Cook’s next step in the history of Islam is to reveal the impact of Turkey and the Mongol empire’s spread of the Muslim religion. There is a confluence of tribal association and acceptance of the Islamic religion in the military campaigns of Genghis Kahn (1162-1227) followers, some of which were Turkish.

(Genghis Khan’s sons establish four kingdoms in the Middle East that lasted until 1368.)

Though none of the kingdoms practiced a particular religion, each influenced the course of religious acceptance. The environment they created allowed Christian religion to spread from Russian territory, while Turkish influence leaned toward Islam. Cook explains how young rebel leaders gained followers by successfully defeating and pillaging villages that had poor defenses. With each successful raid, more young people would join the raiders. This incremental growth led to the spread of Christian and Islamic religious influence, depending on the religious leaning of raiding parties.

Cook clearly illustrates how Arab culture lies at the heart of Islamic religion despite its nomadic existence. From the first madrasas (Islamic schools) in the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th century, the teachings of the last messenger of Allah began with Arabs. Cook explains the religion is unlikely to have flourished without other cultures adoption. Without Persian, Turk, Uzbek, and Mongol societies adoption, the spread of Islam would have been minimized. Muslim belief evolved in a cauldron of conflict with Christianity, Judaism, and other indigenous religions but prevailed as a religion with two faces, i.e., the Suni and Shia Divide.

Like the schism between Catholics and Protestants, Sunni and Shia believe in one God but differ in ways that have roiled the world. In the case of Catholics and Protestants, there is the French wars of 1562-1598, the European thirty years war of 1618-1648, and the Troubles in Ireland in 1968-1998. In the case of Sunni and Shia, there was the battle of Karbala in 680 CE, the Safavid-Ottoman wars in the 16th-17th centuries, the Lebanese Civil War of 1975-1990, the Iraq War of 2003-2011, and the Syrian Civil War that began in 2011 and continues through today.

The forgoing were only human deaths within the two major religions of the world, while neglecting the atrocities incurred between Christianity and Islam. There were the Crusades between the 11th and 13th centuries, the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, The Siege of Vienna in 1683, and the Lebanese Civil War between 1975-1990.

Later chapters of Cook’s history reveal the conflicts between the Islamic religion and other major religions in the Middle East, besides Christianity. Many leaders are identified for historians who will be interested in knowing more, but the names become a blur to a dilatant of history.

Is belief in God worth it? Cook’s history of Muslimism and knowledge of Christianity makes one wonder.

ENTROPY, TIME, & LIFE

As one gets older, the principle of entropy takes on a personal meaning. Getting older may make one wiser but not smarter.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Great Courses: “Mysteries of Modern Physics: Time”

By: Sean Carroll

Lectures by: Sean Carroll

Sean Michael Carroll (American theoretical physicist and philosopher specializing in quantum mechanics, cosmology, and philosophy of science.)

Sean Carroll presents scientists’ views of time, entropy, and life. There are instances of his lectures that are too obscure for this reviewer, but for physicists the lectures are undoubtedly clearer and more concise than for this seeker of understanding.

Infinity time with vintage clock. Digital generated

Carroll explains there are four physical dimensions in the world. There is length, width, depth, and a fourth dimension called time. The first three are easy to understand because they are physical characteristics while time is not. Time cannot be seen, touched, or tasted.

Time is a fourth dimension measured by calendars and clocks that divide the past and present into days, hours, minutes, and seconds. Carroll notes knowledge of length, width, and depth are of the past and present while time points to an unknown future as well as the present and past. Einstein refined the definition of time by renaming it space time which combines physical dimensions with observers’ perception of events, i.e., where and when observations occur and where the observer is located. The significance of Einstein’s space time is that the location and traveling speed of the observer affects the perceived time of events. Carroll’s attention is about time as an arrow that only points forward. Carroll explains how events of the present and past can be defined while the future is unknown. An extended meaning of the arrow of time is that it seems unlikely (though not impossible according to Carroll and the current state of physics) that we can physically return to a past.

There is a significant distinction between entropy and loss of energy. Energy is always conserved but it may not be useable for work. Entropy is about increased disorder and randomness of energy states. Carroll defines entropy as a characteristic of matter in the world which is in a state of molecular disorder, randomness, and uncertainty. This definition is reinforced by the discovery of quantum mechanics which experimentally illustrates probabilities rather than certainty at atom-level interactions. (Einstein never accepted quantum mechanics as a truth of life but only a step of discovery in physics. Einstein believed there would be a discovery that incorporates quantum mechanics in an ultimately predictive physics world.) Carroll notes a theory that explains gravity along with the proof of quantum mechanics holds a key to whether Einstein is wrong when he suggested God does not play with dice.

An interesting note by Carroll is that transition from low to high entropy has an interesting effect in an experiment with two separate enclosures that are connected. One has gas molecules in it while the other does not. There is a hole between the enclosures through which molecules can enter. Over time the two boxes will have the same amount of gas through a process of equilibration. This reinforces the idea of conservation of energy while demonstrating energy transformation.

Transformation of energy is exhibited in animal life by its eventual death, but Caroll explains it equally applies to all matter in the universe. The idea of entropy is reinforced by the arrow of time that only points in one direction.

At an atomic level, all matter transforms over time.

Entropy does not mean loss of energy. Energy is always conserved but it may not have a useful work purpose. The second law of thermodynamics, postulated by Rudolf Clausius in the 1850s, explains that heat always flows from hotter to colder through the process of entropy. For example, a low-level heat energy may not serve a work purpose, but it still conserves energy balance. Raising the heat on a cube of ice transforms its molecules from a frozen state to water to steam which conserves energy that can generate working steam molecules to power an engine.

Much of Caroll’s lectures are an examination of Ludwig Boltzmann’s theory of statistical mechanics and kinetic theory. Much of Boltzmann’s contribution revolves around the concept of entropy and a detailed understanding of the behavior of particles in gases, liquids, and solids. He performed experiments that proved the conservation of energy and the equilibration of atoms and molecules as an observable phenomenon.

Boltzmann speculated that in the beginning of the universe, the chaotic activity of its beginning transformed into a lower state of entropy to create what we see in the world.

Ludwig Edward Boltzmann (1844-1906, Austrian physicist and philosopher.)

Boltzmann’s idea came before the theory of the Big Bang. The idea of the Big Bang actually presumes less entropy rather than more before the creation of the universe. Boltzmann’s idea is that the universe began in chaos (high entropy) to form what became known as a Boltzmann brain (low entropy), a thought experiment where a highly advanced brain formed in a void, from which the universe evolved. The Boltzmann brain is like the singularity of the Big Bang where cosmic dust condensed into a low entropy state and then exploded into our universe.

The origin of the universe may, in one sense, come from either a Boltzmann brain or a Big Bang. Both suggest the universe began in a low entropy state.

However, the Big Bang seems more reliably built on evidence by the measurement of an expanding universe with proven remnants (cosmic radiation) from a massive explosive event. Either theory implies the potential for a multiverse that began from a low entropy theory of our universe’s origin.

At this point in Carroll’s lectures, one’s head begins to hurt. He addresses the many ramifications of the origin of life. As one gets older, the principle of entropy takes on a personal meaning. Getting older may make one wiser but not smarter.

PRECISION

The human factor is at the heart of perfection with precision as the qualifying characteristic of craftsmanship or technology.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“The Perfectionists” How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World

By: Simon Winchester

Narrated by: Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester (British-American author, journalist, historian.)

Simon Winchester has a remarkable ability to simplify, detail, and vivify history’s complexity. Winchester is not new to this listener. His erudition, writing, and narration are a pleasure to read or hear. His story of the origin of the first Oxford English Dictionary, is a fascinating recollection of Dr. William Minor who shot and killed a stranger on a London street. Dr. Minor was imprisoned in an asylum for his aberrant behavior but became an important source of information for James Murray, the leading lexicographer of the “Oxford English Dictionary”.

“The Perfectionists” is about the advance of the world economy from the perspective of entrepreneurs driven to succeed. Their success, in Winchester’s opinion, is based on understanding and capitalizing on the value of precision.

James Watt (1736-1773) perfected Thomas Newcomen’s 1712 steam engine

Though one may go back to the first century to find the first steam engine, it is the invention of James Watt, and the improvements of Matthew Boulton, and Sir Charles Algernon Parsons in the 18th and later 19th centuries that perfected steam engine utility and power. Watt created the steam engine, Boulton helped Watt perfect the steam engine for industrial use, and Parsons expanded its utility by creating steam turbines to power the propellers of steamboats. Each played a role in making steam engines more efficient with precise design and milling refinements that provided more power and wider utility.

Luddites protested against the industrial revolution because machines were replacing jobs formerly done by laborers. Just as the Luddites fomented arguments against mechanization, Nicholas Carr argues automation created unemployment and diminished craftsmanship.

With the advent of the industrial revolution, Winchester explains how speed and quality of production were geometrically improved by focusing on precision. He offers several industry examples, including weapon manufacture, automobile production, camera refinement, telescope resolution, airplane manufacture, watch making, and CPU design which now leads to the A.I. revolution.

**Winchester notes the beginning of the industrial revolution starts with the perfection of energy production machines that power the manufacture of standardized parts for finished products.**

Winchester tells the story of the French that insisted on standardizing parts for gun manufacture to increase the speed with which repairs could be made for damaged weapons. Winchester recounts the war of 1812 when Great Britain bloodied the nose of America by routing the capitol’s volunteer defense because of a lack of useable guns. He tells the story of an American rifleman with a broken trigger on his rifle who chooses to run from a British onslaught because trigger replacement would take two weeks for customization to fit his gun.

American guns were custom made which meant that when one was damaged it would take weeks for repair.

Honoré LeBlanc, a French gunsmith during the reigns of Louis XV and XVI, created the idea of interchangeable gun parts in the 18th century. Though it came to the attention of Thomas Jefferson, it did not catch hold in America until after the war of 1812. There was an effort by America to standardize parts in the early 1800s but Eli Whitney (the inventor of the cotton gin), hoodwinked the American government into a contract for standard gun parts that never materialized.

**Winchester explains Eli Whitney flimflammed the American government to get a contract for standardized gun parts but never produced the product for which the government contracted.**

Winchester notes Whitney knew nothing about guns and hired a crew of customizing gunsmiths who manufactured unique weapons that could not be repaired with standardized parts. Because the parts were manufactured by individual craftsman, the guns produced were not interchangeable. They did not have precisely manufactured parts that would allow interchangeability. Whitney gave a demonstration to the government with only one gun that he assembled in front of Jefferson and a government committee. He did not demonstrate any repair with standard parts. Jefferson fell for the false presentation and initially lauded Whitney. This demonstration was in 1801 which explains why a soldier might have fled because of a broken trigger in the War of 1812.

Henry Royce (1863-1933)

Winchester explains standardizing and precision making of gun parts were an essential step in the industrialization of America. Standardization and precision-made interchangeable parts became the touchstone of success in the automobile industry in the 20th century. Winchester tells the story of Rolls Royce and Ford Motor companies to make his point. Both Royce and Ford recognized the importance of precisely made standard automobile parts to garner their success in the automobile business. Though their route to success is precise manufacture of automobile parts, the wealth they created for themselves was quite different.

Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Ford became one of the richest people in the world while Royce became wealthy but not among the richest in the world. Royce chose to pursue perfection of every part of the automobile which limited his unit production and increased manufacturing cost. Though Ford perfected standardized mechanical parts, they were precisely designed only for functionality. Ford added the dimension of standardized labor to the manufacturing process. By creating an assembly line of laborers with precise replaceable mechanical parts, Ford could produce more automobiles than Royce in a shorter period of time.

The point Winchester makes is perfection of standardization (production of precisely tooled engine parts) is a cornerstone of successful industrialization. Royce expanded the concept to every part of an automobile while Ford focused on replaceable mechanical parts of the automobile.

Winchester tells a story of ball bearing manufacturing during Henry Ford’s reign when some automobiles were failing. The bearing manufacturer proved it was not their bearings with tests that showed the bearings were perfectly within precise measurement requirements. What Ford realizes is that the ball bearings were milled exactly the same and met the precise dimensions required. The problem was found to be the assembly line and human assembly mistakes. One thinks of the loss of precision in Boeing aircraft today and wonders what that means for Boeing’s future if it is not immediately corrected.

Winchester contextualizes the story of the ball bearings in recalling the history of a near catastrophic plane crash when a Rolls-Royce jet engine fails on a Qantas Airlines Airbus A380 in 2010.

Jet engines are precisely manufactured marvels of aviation. However, a tiny flaw in one oil pipe within the engine nearly caused the loss of over 400 passengers. Winchester explains Jet engines are dependent on superheated gas exchange that, if not properly cooled, will damage the engine. Every engine has a series of drilled holes that allow ambient air to cool the engine during flight. The holes are drilled in precise locations throughout the engine louvers and oil pipes to keep the engine from overheating. One of the oil pipes holes is in the wrong location which caused the engine to overheat after many flights. The failure of human oversight of the automated process and final checks by the manufacturer are the underlying cause of the near catastrophe.

More examples of the importance of precision are wonderfully offered by Winchester in “The Perfectionists”. His examination of the tech industry is as prescient as his analysis of the automotive industry and airline industry. He covers Moore’s law and how technology is advancing at an accelerating pace while inferring humanity may be at a turning point. That turning point is the crossroad between human and machine decisions about the future.

The human factor is at the heart of perfection with precision as the qualifying characteristic of craftsmanship or technology.

Winchester infers craftsmanship does not mean precision is to be sacrificed. He recalls the emphasis on precision in Japanese culture where many craftsmen assembled and repaired Seiko watches to revitalize the brand in the late 20th century. Precision is not a lost art whether work is done by machine or a craftsman, but the human factor remains a critical component of both processes. The point to this listener is that precision is only a part of what has advanced the welfare of society.

ENERGY MATTERS

The boon for composite material is their utility for work and play. Their bane is disposal and their effect on the environment.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“The Nature of Matter: Understanding the Physical World” (The Great Book Lectures)

By: David Ball

Narrated by: Professor David W. Ball

Professor David W. Ball (Professor of Chemistry and Chair of Chemistry Dept. at Cleveland State University, received Masters and Doctoral Degrees from Rice University,

Professor Bell offers a definition and description of matter in the universe. He carries on much of what is explained by Pollock in “Particle Physics”. Bell explains how physics particles form matter with the addition of energy, Bell reifies and expands Pollock’s history of physics. Though there is significant overlap in their presentations, Bell offers a more detailed understanding of matter with its component particles and the role of energy in what humans hear, feel, smell, and see.

Two facts about matter expanded by Bell are about energy’ component’s and structure’s interactions among and within atoms. Though Pollock alluded to the structure of matter and fully explains energy’s importance at the atomic level, Bell expands explanation of electrons and the way they provide energy within and between atoms.

The structure of revolving electrons generate energy in different orbits around the nucleus of an atom. Initially, those orbits were thought to be like planets revolving around the sun but were found to be located within shells around the nucleus in three different orbits. These shells come in three categories. One is spherically symmetric (called the S orbital), the second is dumbbell-like with two lobes along specific axis’s (called P orbitals), and the third (which are also called P orbitals) follow a preferred direction that is not spherical. These shells are important because their reactivity and bonding play a critical role in the formation of matter.

Ball explains electron arrangement around the nucleus of an atom determine chemical properties and behavior of molecular interactions. Electrons are the wave feature of Quantum Mechanics that confound an ordered world of cause and effect postulated by Albert Einstein. What is made a little clearer by Ball is that color is an integral part of energy at the atomic level. Electron energy has discrete and precise energy levels that are arranged around the nucleus of an atom.

Without light particles (protons), energy would not exist. Ball notes electron energy is fundamentally affected by light.

Light or photons are the source of discrete energy levels called quanta that do different things–1) generate absorption, 2) cause transition between shell levels, 3) generate fluorescence, and/or 4) penetrate an atom’s dense nucleus to change mass to energy.

Ball explains why carbon is the most important element in the periodic table. Carbon’s importance is signified by its absence or presence in matter. Matter is either organic or inorganic with carbon being the measure of its classification. The astounding realization is that as a percentage of the earth’s elements, carbon is only 0.032% of our environment. (In contrast, the 3 largest fundamental elements on earth are oxygen at 46.6%, silicon is 27.7%, and Aluminum is 8.1%.) It is a reminder that earth’s living things (organic matter) are dependent on carbon, a miniscule percentage of our environment.

**Without carbon, there would be no life (as we know it) on earth.**

Ball’s chapter on water is an enlightening exploration of its reputation as a universal solvent with various uses and characteristics when boiled or frozen. Water’s dissolving and heat-storing capability are thoughtfully explained. Pollution is touched upon with explanations about what is being done and needs to be improved to preserve the world’s environment.

Ball explores prosthesis and material questions and solutions for the creation of body parts.

From dental fillings to tooth implants, to artificial hips, knees, hearts, arteries and breast implants, Ball explains how biochemistry and materials are critical to their manufacture and utility. He suggests the future will include brain implant enhancements and increases in human longevity.

In “Resistance is Futile”, Ball explains the value of superconductivity.

The current reality of world’ electrification is that 30% of its beneficial power is lost in transmission. Material qualities of our wired world inhibit electrical power conductivity. That 30% loss can be reduced by hugely lowering the temperature of transmission material, with the idea to invent a superconductive material that does not require super-cooled temperatures. Success in finding that material remains a work in progress. No one has found a superconductivity material that does not require super-cooled temperatures. However, Ball notes discovery would be an immense energy saver for the world.

In contrast to “Resistance is Futile” Ball notes “Resistance is Useful”.

Ball explains how resistance creates heat in a semi-conductor that can be translated in a wired circuit to trigger a directed instrumental behavior or action. With the design of circuit boards with semi-conductors (specifically transistors), one could initiate or complete a series of tasks. From automating machines to creating powerful laptop computers, semi-conductor manufacture grew into an immense industry. As the complexity of tasks increased, the size of semi-conductors decreased. Gordon Moore proposed Moore’s law that suggested transistor’ size (a form of semi-conductor) in integrated circuits would become smaller and double every two years. Moore’s Law is not precisely true, but miniaturization, performance, and integration remain semi-conductor manufacturing’ goals.

The last lectures address composites and their component assembly in everything from concrete to fiberglass to tires.

These composites are formed from different materials based on their elemental properties that provide valuable materials to society. They are formed by atomic level interactions between elemental properties. Composite materials are noted as a boon and bane of society. The boon is their utility for new products for work and play. Their bane is disposal and their effect on the environment.

PHYSICS STANDARD MODEL

Was Einstein right when he said, “God does not play dice with the universe.”

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos” (The Great Book Lectures)

By: Steven Pollock

Narrated by: Professor Steven Pollock

Steven J. Pollock (American professor of physics, 2013 U.S. Professor of the Year.)

Professor Pollock attempts to explain particle physics to non-physicists in this lecture series. The explanation details the contributions of many brilliant physicists and scientists that are generally well-known to most who wish to have a better understanding of physics beyond its mathematic proofs. Parenthetically, Pollock’s history shows few contributions to physics by women, a sad reflection on world society that ignores half the world’s intelligence.

Particle physics is about the most elemental ingredients of the universe. Pollock notes the known elemental particles are either bosons or fermions which have been identified through various methods of breaking down the structure of the atom. Examples of bosons are photons, gluons, and bosons. Examples of fermions are electrons, quarks, and neutrinos.

Pollock explains fermions are the elemental particles that make up the matter of what we see. Bosons are the forces of the subatomic world that manipulate fermions. Pollock believes the standard model of physics has largely been determined and that there are unlikely to be any fundamental changes to that model. That conclusion reminds one of Lord Kelvin in 1900 who suggested “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now.” In contrast, Albert Einstein noted “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” One wonders if Pollock is leaning toward a Kelvin perception of the standard model of physics by discounting Einstein’s observation about knowledge.

Higgs boson gives mass to what humans see in the world by combining the forces and matter of the sub-atomic world.

Pollock explains the evolution of research in identifying new elemental particles. Pollock notes the Higgs-Boson, the latest particle identified with the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva in 2021, suggests the same tool will lead to further particle discoveries. He explains how the LHC is the latest method for revealing unknown elemental particles by bombarding atoms with proton beams and heavy ions to discover the elemental ingredients of nature. The LHC’s ability to generate a high enough velocity to break the atom into its constituent parts remains a work in progress. Interestingly, Pollock expresses some reservations about the experimental proof of Higgs-Bosun because of the LHC’s unreliable replication of the Higgs-Bosun results. The LHC is shut down for an upgrade that will presumably prove or disprove the Higgs-Bosun discovery.

Will LHC and linear accelerator experiments find more fundamental particles for the standard model of physics? Was Einstein right when he said, “God does not play dice with the universe.” Pollock implies not.

Pollock, like many physicists, believes quantum mechanics are the way the world works at an atomic level and infers the distinction is like the difference between Newtonian and Einsteinian physics. Newton’s world of physics is about earth and its existence while Einstein’s view is of the universe. Both were right within their fields of analysis, but each assumed life exists in a deterministic universe.

It seems Pollock chooses to accept the atomic level of the world operates probabilistically while the macro world operates deterministically because both show experimental proof of difference. Einstein believed the difference would be resolved by further knowledge, i.e., knowledge that explains how there can be a difference between particle physics and Newton/Einstein’ physics that reasons both are ultimately deterministic.

A.I.’S Future

The question is–will humans or A.I. decide whether artificial intelligence is a tool or controller and regulator of society.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“Co-Intelligence”

By: Ethan Mollick

Narrated by: Ethan Mollick

Ethan Mollick (Author, Associate Professor–University of Pennsylvania who teaches innovation and entrepreneurship. Mollick received a PhD and MBA from MIT.)

“Co-Intelligence” is an eye-opening introduction to an understanding of artificial intelligence, i.e., its benefits and risks. Ethan Mollick offers an easily understandable introduction to what seems a discovery equivalent to the age of enlightenment. The ramification of A.I. on the future of society is immense. That may seem hyperbolic, but the world dramatically changed with the enlightenment and subsequent industrial revolution in ways that remind one of what A.I. is beginning today.

Mollick explains how A.I. uses what is called an LLM (Large Language Model) to consume every written text in the world and use that information to create ideas and responses to human questions about yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Unlike the limitation of human memory, A.I. has the potential of recalling everything that has been documented by human beings since the beginning of written language. A.I. uses that information to formulate responses to human inquiry. The point is that A.I. has no conscience about what is right or wrong, true or false, moral or immoral.

A.I. can as easily fabricate a lie as a truth because it draws on what others have written or spoken.

The risk of that A.I. capability is that its source of response can be as diverse as recall of “Mein Kamph” beliefs, a biblical texMORALITYt, or the written records of ancient and modern philosophers.

Additionally, Mollick notes that A.I. is capable of reproducing a person’s speech and appearance so that it is nearly impossible to note the differences between the real and artificial representation. It becomes possible for the leader of any country to be artificially created to order their subordinates or tell the world they are going to invade or decimate another country by any means necessary.

Mollick argues there are four possible futures for Artificial Intelligence.

Presuming A.I. does not evolve beyond its present capability, it could still supercharge human productivity. On the other hand, A.I. might become a more sophisticated “deep fake” tool that misleads humanity. A.I. may evolve to believe only in itself and act to disrupt or eliminate human society. A fourth possibility is that A.I. will become a tool of human beings to improve societal decisions that benefit humanity. It may offer practical solutions for global warming, species preservation, interstellar travel and habitation.

The point Mollick makes is that human beings need to recognize the importance of shaping the future of A.I. by understanding and using it as a tool for the benefit society.

A.I. is not an oracle of truth. It has the memory of society at its beck and call. With that capability, humans have the opportunity to avoid mistakes of the past and pursue unknown opportunities for the future. On the other hand, humans may become complacent and allow A.I. to develop itself without human regulation. The question is–will humans or A.I. decide whether artificial intelligence is a tool or controller and regulator of society.

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