Re: The anthropomorphic universe

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:41:32 +0000, Phil C.
<philstoxicwaste@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


<<The universe went through a traumatic growth spurt before it was a
billionth of a billionth of a second old...>>

<<The probe has also given physicists their first clues about what
drove that frantic expansion...>>

I wonder who was traumatised and frantic.

I disagree with the assumption that scientific inquiries and
observations should be devoid of lyrical analogue. Depending on the
subject matter, most papers submitted for peer review should probably
be matter-of-fact, but when a writer wishes to engage the public, I
see no reason to make the composition palatable.

Science writers like Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan, E.O Wilson, Steven
Pinker, Daniel Dennett, Stephen Hawking and Isaac Asimov use prose
(brilliantly at times) to engage the reader. It can make a complex
subject or rarefied context meaningful.

No one can easily grasp what a trillionth of a second is, or what 800
million light- years is. It's even harder to get people to wrap
themselves around things like the reprentativeness heuristic or RNA
action without relating to similar functions in daily life.

As an American, I know all to well the penalty of a public poorly
educated in science. We could use more science writing that appeals to
the average reader.

And yes, expanding thousands of light-years in a trillionth of a
second is traumatic and frantic - on a human, geologic and even
galactic scale.

- TR



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