HOME  INTERVIEWS  RESOURCES  NEWS  ABOUT

View by:  Subject  Theme  Question  Term  Person  Event

The Rediscovery of the Observer

The impact of the developments in physics over the last century can be thought of under four headings:

  1. The rediscovery of time through relativity theory.God,   Humanity and the Cosmos,   ed. Christopher Southgate (Edinburgh: T&T Clark and Harrisburg, Pa.:   Trinity Press International, 1999), pp100-107

  2. The rediscovery of the observer through quantum theory.

  3. Big Bang cosmology, leading to a possible rediscovery of purpose.God,   Humanity and the Cosmos,   ed. Christopher Southgate (Edinburgh: T&T Clark and Harrisburg, Pa.:   Trinity Press International, 1999), pp119-130

  4. The rediscovery of complexity through chaos theory.God,   Humanity and the Cosmos,   ed. Christopher Southgate (Edinburgh: T&T Clark and Harrisburg, Pa.:   Trinity Press International, 1999), pp130-135

Towards the end of the 19th Century Lord Kelvin had warned of two clouds on the horizon of Newtonian Physics:

  1. The failure of the Michelson-Morley Experiment to detect the motion of the Earth through the aether (the medium through which it was assumed that light must be propagated).

  2. The failure of classical physics to account for the colour of hot objects - the spectrum of black-body radiation.

Einstein’s explanation of 1) led to the rediscovery of timeGod,   Humanity and the Cosmos,   ed. Christopher Southgate (Edinburgh: T&T Clark and Harrisburg, Pa.:   Trinity Press International, 1999), pp100-107and its importance.
The explanation for 2) has led to even more radical changes in our understanding of the world, which must now be understood in terms of quantum theory.

In these topics we shall see how problems interpreting black-body radiation led to ‘the ultraviolet catastrophe’ and the first proposal in quantum theory, how Einstein helped the development of early quantum theory through his work on the photo-electric effect.

See collapsing atoms to learn about radioactivity and the structure of the atom, and wave-particle duality to investigate the paradoxical behaviour of light and subatomic particles.

Finally, see the quantum revolution to learn how these discoveries were brought together in an overall theory.

Email link | Feedback | Contributed by: Dr. Christopher Southgate
Source: God, Humanity and the Cosmos  (T&T Clark, 1999)

Topic Sets Available

AAAS Report on Stem-Cells

AstroTheology: Religious Reflections on Extraterrestrial Life Forms

Agency: Human, Robotic and Divine
Becoming Human: Brain, Mind, Emergence
Big Bang Cosmology and Theology (GHC)
Cosmic Questions Interviews

Cosmos and Creator
Creativity, Spirituality and Computing Technologies
CTNS Content Home
Darwin: A Friend to Religion?
Demystifying Information Technology
Divine Action (GHC)
Dreams and Dreaming: Neuroscientific and Religious Visions'
E. Coli at the No Free Lunchroom
Engaging Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence: An Adventure in Astro-Ethics
Evangelical Atheism: a response to Richard Dawkins
Ecology and Christian Theology
Evolution: What Should We Teach Our Children in Our Schools?
Evolution and Providence
Evolution and Creation Survey
Evolution and Theology (GHC)
Evolution, Creation, and Semiotics

The Expelled Controversy
Faith and Reason: An Introduction
Faith in the Future: Religion, Aging, and Healthcare in the 21st Century

Francisco Ayala on Evolution

From Christian Passions to Scientific Emotions
Genetic Engineering and Food

Genetics and Ethics
Genetic Technologies - the Radical Revision of Human Existence and the Natural World

Genomics, Nanotechnology and Robotics
Getting Mind out of Meat
God and Creation: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives on Big Bang Cosmology
God, Humanity and the Cosmos: A Textbook in Science and Religion
God the Spirit - and Natural Science
Historical Examples of the Science and Religion Debate (GHC)
History of Creationism
Intelligent Design Coming Clean

Issues for the Millennium: Cloning and Genetic Technologies
Jean Vanier of L'Arche
Nano-Technology and Nano-ethics
Natural Science and Christian Theology - A Select Bibliography
Neuroscience and the Soul
Outlines of the Science and Religion Debate (GHC)

Perspectives on Evolution

Physics and Theology
Quantum Mechanics and Theology (GHC)
Questions that Shape Our Future
Reductionism (GHC)
Reintroducing Teleology Into Science
Science and Suffering

Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action (CTNS/Vatican Series)

Space Exploration and Positive Stewardship

Stem-Cell Debate: Ethical Questions
Stem-Cell Ethics: A Theological Brief

Stem-Cell Questions
Theistic Evolution: A Christian Alternative to Atheism, Creationism, and Intelligent Design...
Theology and Science: Current Issues and Future Directions
Unscientific America: How science illiteracy threatens our future
Will ET End Religion?

Current Stats: topics: >2600, links: >300,000, video: 200 hours.