The great design
The great design: A new explanation of the universe (original title: The Grand Design ) is a popular scientific book by the astrophysicists Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow about the possibility of a world formula with which all physical phenomena of the universe and its formation can be fully explained. The main thesis of the book is that, according to the M-theory, the universe can have arisen spontaneously without the influence of a creator god and not just one, but a multitude of different universes is probable. The key to proving this theory is the Einstein connection General relativity and quantum physics . The German edition of the book was published as a hardcover in September 2010 .
content
The starting point of the book is the concept of a model-dependent realism. Accordingly, we accept an explanatory model if it accurately predicts events. At the same time, however, it is possible that another explanatory model with fundamentally different bases predicts the same events just as accurately. In such a case, it cannot be said that one of the models is more real than the other, according to Hawking and Mlodinow. The authors use this approach in order to be able to integrate both theories of classical physics and quantum physics into their introduction of a theory of everything , although our everyday experiences only correspond to the findings of classical physics, but contradict quantum physics.
The basis of the quantum theoretical part of the book is the so-called double slit experiment . It shows that tiny light particles do not follow a predictable path on their way from point A to point B. The physicist Richard Feynman was the first to conclude that this did not mean that the light particles in the experiment did not follow any path at all. Rather, according to Feynman's theory, they follow all possible paths. Hawking and Mlodinow transfer this idea, with reference to the model-dependent realism from the quantum domain, to the cosmology of the entire universe. Accordingly, the universe did not develop on a single determined path from the Big Bang , but at the same time on all possible paths to a multitude of possible universes. To solve the question of how all these worlds can exist in parallel in terms of time and space, the authors refer to the models of string theory . The general theory of relativity is used to solve the problem of the origin of the universe. Hawking and Mlodinow explain that, according to Einstein's theory, time in the Big Bang phase must be understood as a spatial dimension that no longer has anything to do with our everyday understanding of time. The so-called space - time is described at this point in the same way as a closed surface without a border. The question of the beginning of time (like a border) is therefore irrelevant in the argument because this beginning is just as difficult to determine as a point south of the South Pole .
Chapter overview
The book is divided into eight chapters:
- The secret of being
- The rule of law
- What is reality
- Alternative stories
- The theory of everything
- Choose our universe
- The apparent miracle
- The great design
reception
The book reached fourth place on the Spiegel bestseller list for hardcover books in September 2010. Criticisms from a scientific point of view related, among other things, to the topicality of the theories used in the book. With regard to the comprehensibility for laypeople, the clear and pictorial style was emphasized on the one hand, and its lack of more complex issues on the other. From a philosophical-metaphysical point of view, there are criticisms of the basic ideological assumptions of the work, especially materialism. The position of the book on the question of God is also criticized and thus offers a basis for discussion on the question of God.
literature
- Stephen Hawking, Leonard Mlodinow: The Great Draft - A New Declaration of the Universe . German by Hainer Kober. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2010, ISBN 978-3-498-02991-3
Individual evidence
- ^ Hawking, Mlodinow: The great draft . Rowohlt, Reinbek 2010. p. 12 ff.
- ^ Hawking, Mlodinow: The great draft . Rowohlt, Reinbek 2010. p. 82.
- ^ Hawking, Mlodinow: The great draft . Rowohlt, Reinbek 2010. pp. 133-135.
- ^ The large draft in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ Hardcover ranking by buchreport ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved February 12, 2011
- ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung (online). Accessed February 12, 2011
- ↑ Tagesspiegel: Why Stephen Hawking thinks God is superfluous . Retrieved February 12, 2011
- ↑ Deutschlandradio Kultur: The world doesn't need God . Retrieved February 12, 2011
- ↑ Lecture by Prof. Dr. Hans-Dieter Mutschler at the conference “Universe from nowhere - Stephen Hawking's world formula of physics put to the test”, January 14, 2011, Hohenheim Conference Center ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved September 20, 2013
- ↑ Considerations by graduate mathematician U.Meyer: Who is God? Part 3 - The Answer Retrieved November 30, 2013
