Slashdot Mirror
13th Century Multiverse Theory Unearthed
ananyo writes: "Robert Grosseteste, an English scholar who lived from about 1175 to 1253, was the first thinker in northern Europe to try to develop unified physical laws to explain the origin and form of the geocentric medieval universe of heavens and Earth. Tom McLeish, professor of physics and pro-vice-chancellor for research at Britain's Durham University, and a multinational team of researchers found that Grosseteste's physical laws were so rigorously defined that they could be re-expressed using modern mathematical and computing techniques — as the medieval scholar might have done if he had been able to use such methods. The thinking went that the translated equations could then be solved and the solutions explored. The 'Ordered Universe Project' started six years ago and has now reported some of its findings. Only a small set of Grosseteste's parameters resulted in the "ordered" medieval universe he sought to explain, the researchers found; most resulted either in no spheres being created or a 'disordered' cosmos of numerous spheres. Grosseteste, then, had created a medieval 'multiverse.' De Luce suggests that the scholar realized his theories could result in universes with all manner of spheres, although he did not appear to realize the significance of this. A century later, philosophers Albert of Saxony and Nicole Oresme both considered the idea of multiple worlds and how they might exist simultaneously or in sequence."
B: The limits of modern models and measurements for the physical universe were exhausted - reaching a limit with Einstein and Heisenberg, etc., so that any further extrapolations require fantastical imaginations, worthy of 14th century Alchemysts.
C: Bad cheese.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
He must have had big balls to propose his theories.
I eat only the real part of complex carbohydrates.
It wants its Slashdot summary back.
Soylentnews for the dweebs. Nobody is there. NOBODY.
Well not right after I posted. Did you kill their server?
A Good Troll is better than a Bad Human.
If you taste enough alchemy experiments, you'll imagine all kinds of whacky stuff.
Table-ized A.I.
Dear ArcadeMan from Universe CK-34B,
please send 5000 Bitcoins to the following address: 1LHuLKyHDndUdjgKUsmfAG8tDnXZ5fTuUA
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
So tiresome hearing seemingly intelligent people assert that some particular individual was the first ever to do or think some particular thing. Rarely is it actually true. Other times, you say, "Really, was that guy in the 13th century really the first person ever on that continent, in the eons of human history, to describe or postulate the existence of more than one universe using math?" How does one have the arrogance to say such things? Can't douches just qualify such trivia with "...the earliest evidence or documented instance of..."? I have no evidence contrary to the summary, but don't need it to point out the arrogance of asserting "that guy was the first".
Here there be dragons. Lots of them.
I would have a sig but I am too busy updating programs and restarting my computer
it is a relatively weak news but nonetheless it's sad to see how people cannot accept the fact that a lot if not all the greatest scientists, inventors and innovators had a rather mystical and deeply philosophical side in their lives... that side to side to rigorous mathematical papers there were much more 'unscientific' studies... it's the human attraction for what is hidden and mysterious that always lives in the minds of explorers and scientists are first and foremost explorers.... we are creating a simplistic view of science through washed out propaganda and childish mottos.... sometimes so-called geeks should read more carefully the biographies of the giants on whom shoulders they stand...
Arthur C. Clarke?
Hi space nutter guy! I'm your biggest fan! I bet that if you keep practicing, you might even dethrone APK as the most annoying crazy guy on Slashdot!
You're never getting "off this rock". We're all going to stay right here where it's warm and good. No one's going to live on Mars, mine the Moon or bring back asteroids. One day you'll realize I was right all along.
I read about this last week... Yes, if you take any significantly crazy dude from 1000 years ago and examine his theories in a modern light, his theories will likely end up baring an uncanny resemblance to the truth.
I grew up in a cult of wacko child molesters who tried to teach us about some place outside of this universe where winged creatures lived and where you supposedly were transported to when you died, unless you went to the other dimension where there was a big fire. All sounds so foolish now.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
It is weird the church failed to burn him as heretic. I guess they missed his work?
Can you imagine the potential resources and livestock to be found in hell or heaven? It's no wonder the church can't stop trying to get us all out there!
Over at 'the other place' the guy who did some of the computer modelling for the project has chipped in with some insights that are a bit more interesting than those (dare I say it) here (there, I did).
https://news.ycombinator.com/i...
eg Here's a thread from there:
T-A 18 hours ago | link
So the Economist's point is that a "research" project exploring an idea about the universe which has been known to be incorrect for centuries somehow proves the value of the humanities? Really?
14113 15 hours ago | link
Yes. It provides a lot of information about the history of science. Most importantly, Grosseteste was one of the first to use what we now think of as the scientific method, and (I believe) the first to suggest a 'big bang like' start to the universe.
He's essential in the history of science for introducing aristotalean traditions and ideas, to the scientific discourse at the time, as well as being one of the early founders of science. For that reason at least he's well worth studying, and especially his ideas, which are very close to what we have now. What the science researchers are doing is helping the historians formalise his ideas in todays language and notations so that their similarities can be seen with todays ideas.
Source: I worked on this project over last summer as a computer science student visualising his explanation for the start of the universe.
If Joseph Campbell is to be trusted, the Upanishads describe a multiverse many centuries before this upstart whelp.
or at the very least that you are an anonymous coward
Neil DeGrasse was talking about quantum states and only being able to observe velocity or distance with accuracy (one or the other, never both) and basically that if there's an observer, it will only do a single thing. (also, consider trying to compute two things at the same time in general. one answer will always come before another, even if it has to be proven on a nano nano nanoscale, ala photofinish)
There are multiple quantum states that exist at the same time but you can only measure a single one of them.
Our existence is a single quantum state - there are others, but this is the only one that we can possibly observe, and therefore the only one that currently exists until our technology and theory matures.