A Brief History of Time

Описание: One of the most profound ideas in science is that the universe runs according to fixed, discoverable laws. This concept has its roots in rationalism—the belief that the universe is understandable, governed by logic, and that patterns exist in nature for us to uncover. Stephen Hawking, in A Brief History of Time, emphasizes how this belief has shaped scientific progress.

Rationality and the Quest for Laws

Early civilizations often explained natural phenomena through mythology, attributing events to the actions of gods or supernatural forces. The turning point came when thinkers in ancient Greece, India, and elsewhere began to search for rational explanations—relying on observation, mathematics, and logic. This rational approach blossomed in the Scientific Revolution, where figures like Galileo, Newton, and Kepler formulated the laws that govern motion, gravity, and the planets. The idea that these laws apply everywhere and at all times—that the universe is not chaotic but ordered—transformed human understanding.

Hawking discusses how Einstein’s theory of relativity and quantum mechanics further reinforced the belief in fixed laws. Although the universe is vast and often counterintuitive, it is not random. From the motion of galaxies to the behavior of tiny particles, everything follows rules that can be described by mathematical equations. Even phenomena that appear unpredictable, such as quantum uncertainty or chaos theory, still operate within the boundaries set by these laws.

Determinism vs. Chance

If the universe is governed by fixed laws, does that mean everything is predetermined? This question has sparked deep debate. In Newton’s universe, the answer seemed to be “yes”: if you knew the initial conditions and the laws, you could predict the future precisely. Laplace, a French mathematician, imagined an intelligence that, knowing all forces and positions, could calculate the future and past exactly.

However, quantum mechanics changed this view. At the smallest scales, events are fundamentally uncertain. You can predict probabilities, but not certainties. Still, the laws themselves are fixed—quantum mechanics describes exactly what those probabilities are. So, while nature contains randomness, it’s a randomness with rules.

Darwin and Evolution: Law in Life

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is a prime example of how fixed laws can produce complex outcomes. Natural selection, a law-like process, explains how life evolves: random mutations provide variation, but the “law” of selection decides which traits survive. The interplay of chance and law, order and variation, is at the heart of Darwin’s theory.

Hawking points out that, just as the universe follows physical laws, life on Earth has developed through laws that can be studied and understood. There is no need to invoke miracles or supernatural intervention; the richness and diversity of life emerge from the operation of these principles over immense timescales.

The Search for a Unified Theory

Hawking’s ultimate goal is the search for a single “theory of everything”—a set of fixed laws that unite gravity, quantum mechanics, and all of physics. Such a theory would show that, at the deepest level, everything in the universe operates according to rational, knowable rules.

In summary, the idea that the universe runs on fixed laws is a cornerstone of science. It reflects the rational spirit, underlies Darwin’s theory, and continues to drive humanity’s quest to understand the cosmos.

Edited by:   / 69th_stoic