Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow (Bantam, 2010)

Either I'm really smart or these guys are great writers who really know their stuff.  Actually, both realities are superpositioned and are therefore both likely. 

If you've done much reading regarding the beginnings of the universe, the nature of reality, quantum physics or cosmology then most of what Hawking and Mlodinow discuss is merely reiteration. 

The crux of the book is M-theory, which the authors believe is the best bet for an all-encompassing theory or theory of a Grand Design.  All the effects that came about and eventually formed us and our planet are explainable through science, the authors say.  There is no need to invoke a "God" or "intelligent designer." 

What happened before the big bang?  Well, say the authors, that's as pointless as asking what is more south than the south pole?  The answer: nothing.  Once you're at the south pole, there is nothing further south because you're at the southernmost point.  The big bang singularity (or whatever it was/is) is like that southernmost point, you can't "go back further" than that point. 

M-theory is apparently many theories that explain aspects of reality that when taken together, create a map of the nature of reality.  Theories and experiments using classical and quantum scientific models, overall, explain so much of the universe and its forces, etc., that the authors believe that M-theory is the best bet without invoking God. 

They did a good job of staying within those parameters throughout the book.  There were really no divergent discussions against God theories, just that they don't see them as necessary to explain the creation or current structure of the universe. 

Pretty good book and an enjoyable read if you're into science regarding astronomical objects, quantum reality, or why there is anything and not nothing in a universe.