While I was in college one of my professors gave me a book with the purpose of learning about this new physics scheme as he saw potential for research in it. Sadly, I never got myself around to reading it and finished my master program without any clue as to what the book is about. So, I decided on my own to read it and see what I can get out of it that would be so interesting for my professor to recommend as reading material for my research. I do not know how many parts it will take me to cover the whole book, but I will be writing this sort of summary with extra information that the book does not provide as I read it.
The name of the book is “Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe” by Roger Penrose. He is a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and Nobel Laureate in Physics as well as Emeritus Rouse Ball professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford. He has written other books such as The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics; The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe; The Nature of Space and Time, among others. The book Cycles of Time is divided into three parts: part 1 The Second Law and its Underlying Mystery; part 2 The Oddly Special Nature of the Big Bang; and part 3 Conformal Cyclic Cosmology. It also has a preface, acknowledgement, prologue, epilogue and appendices. So far i have read the preface, acknowledgement and prologue of the book (yes i am a slow reader), and this i will be discussing here.
Preface
Created by Penrose himself, talks about its motivation to create the conformal cyclic cosmological model. He talks about his beginning as a graduate student at Cambridge University in the 1950s, and how at the time the existing model to explain the origin of the universe was the steady- state model. In this model the density matter in the expanding universe remains unchanged (the destruction of galaxies is balanced out by the creation of new ones at the same rate). thus, stating that the observable universe is always the same at any time and any place. This was a scientific theory that was heavily supported by his mentor Dennis Sciama (1926 - 1999). It is interesting to denote that the word he chooses to denote the steady-state model as well as his own conformal cyclic cosmology is not the word theory but rather "scheme". in science a scheme is a type of diagram that shows the steps in a process. giving us an account of how something comes to be. This is how he views the steady state model, the big bang, and even his own theory as a step-by-step diagram of the process of whence the universe came to be.
The steady-state model did not last very long as evidence from the universe came to disprove it. Anzo Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered in an all-pervading electromagnetic radiation coming in from all directions, thus showing that the universe had evolved over time. This radiation is now known as Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation or CMB for short. One of my professors in college likes to refer to the CMB as the first sonogram of the universe which I considered extremely hilarious. Under this new evidence even his mentor saw himself changing his views from supporting the steady-state model to the now more appealing big bang theory (I must add that it takes a lot to admit when one is wrong and accept reality, Kudos to Dr. Sciama). However, even with this step there are still mysteries to explore and questions to answer, one in particular pertains to the oddness of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which among all the physics laws is quite unique. he concludes saying that his scheme is unorthodox "yet it is based on geometrical and physical ideas which are very soundly based" as it resonates with the old steady-state model but at the same time bring together many aspects of the universe we know today. His model seems to be heavily geometrical but since the book is supposed to be for general audiences, he refrains from posting a lot of mathematics into the chapter and saved it for the appendices.
Prologue
Now this is a picture that i consider very fictitious. It is a conversation between a kid and his aunt who is a physicist that serves as an introduction about what’s to come. I deemed the story fictitious as there is no way that a child would have this level of cognitive reasoning to have this kind of conversation. At times the way the character questions the answers provided to him seems contradictory to his level of knowledge, but it is irrelevant to the point that they trying to make, I just expected a more believable scenario but still the story is quite captivating.
The story takes place in an old mill during a rainy day. Now, I have never seen an old mill, but I am guessing that it is one of those places that look like a cabin with a giant wooden wheel and a river that goes through it like the picture below.
Since it is raining the water is more active as the flow is higher and the wheel is turning faster than regular. The kid asked, "is it always like this?" to which his aunt replies not usually but due to the recent wet weather, water had to be diverted from the mill as there is far more energy than the mill needs. The kid, still surprised, asked a follow up question “where all this energy came from that got the water at the top of the mountain?” The aunt proceeded to explain how the sun heats up the water that becomes clouds and how the energy is transformed into gravitational potential energy that later is released when the water falls from the clouds, and so on (is basically explaining the water cycle with a focus on the energy). What puzzled the kid, and where the conversation got a little distorted, was when the kid asked about why he didn't feel hot but rather cold, or how he didn't feel like being lifted by the heat from the sun before. My problem with this is how can you go from presenting the kid as someone brilliant enough to make the first the question and understand its implication to someone completely out of sight to ask why the water molecules got lifted and he didn't. It seems inconsistent, but once again it is irrelevant.
The point is that the conversation serves as an introduction to the concept of Entropy which is the realm that the second law of thermodynamics handles. In physics we talk about organization and disorder for energy under the idea of entropy. Entropy is the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work. One of the important concepts in the conservation of energy. How energy is converted from one form to another. This brings order into the system and keeps it functioning, but not all forms of energy are conserved, and this is what the second law is telling us. The degree of disorder is increasing as energy becomes less and less reusable (at least that is how I understand entropy and the laws of thermodynamics). Using this idea i am guessing is how Roger Penrose came up with his model of conformal cyclic cosmology. The prologue ends with the aunt explaining about different theories that try to explain the previous stage of the big bang including a new one she just recently heard which is the one the book will be covering. So, it is safe to say that the scheme the book will discuss is a model of the previous stage of the universe before the big bang.
I will continue with my reading, and I will bring you an update of the first chapter when I am done with it. If you like this, please share it with others and if you have any insights about the subjects, please share them in the comments. I will be happy to hear from you guys.
If you want to learn more about the subject, you can learn from the following sources.
- https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/scientificcommunication/chapter/schemes/#:~:text=Schemes%20are%20a%20type%20of,crude%20oil%20(Scheme%2013.1).
- https://www.britannica.com/science/astronomy/The-steady-state-challenge
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycles_of_Time
- https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Sciama
- https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Penrose
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conformal_cyclic_cosmology
- https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=entropy
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics
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