Amir Aczel
wrote God’s Equation following the 1998 announcement of studies that indicated that we live in
an open universe that will continue expanding without end. This is in contrast
to theories that the universe might be closed, with gravity eventually pulling
everything back in to a great collapse, or stable, with the universe continuing
to expand at an ever slower rate. He attempts to show for a lay audience how
these discoveries were built on the work of Albert Einstein and complex forms of geometry.
It is complex. Aczel
does not dive too deep into the math. Most of his intended audience wouldn’t understand it—it
is beyond any math I’ve mastered. It is rooted in Einstein’s general theory of relativity and his field equation, which describes
it mathematically. Many people are familiar with E=mc2. It is simple
and it is fairly easy to understand what it is describing. The field equation
may look fairly simple when written out, but behind it is very complex math
that has complex ramifications.
I think a lay person
could read this book and have no better understanding of the physics and math
of our expanding universe than he did before. I’m not sure that understanding
complex physics is the great value of the book
anyway.
To me, the value of the
book is the way it shows how science works. Aczel demythologizes the
process, especially in relation to Einstein, without devaluing it or the
accomplishments of leading scientists. For instance, the myth of Einstein is
that he came up with the theory of relativity in an instant due to his
extraordinary genius and it instantly revolutionized science.
The reality is that,
even though Einstein was way ahead of his contemporaries, it took him years of
effort and false starts to develop general relativity. He had help and input
from other physicists and mathematicians. His work was met with skepticism. It
took many years for Einstein and others to flesh out the ramifications of his
theory, and for astronomers and other experimental scientist to
confirm them.
Another bit of demythologizing
is that Einstein wasn’t good at math. He simply wasn’t interested in math for
its own sake, so he didn’t put in the effort as a student except to the degree
he found it useful. Though Einstein came up with ideas with imagination that
did not always depend on math, the fleshing out of his theories into sound
physics required a lot of math. He applied himself diligently to mastering it,
and it was quite advanced.
A physicist will seek
more technical books on the subject of cosmology. Arguably a book that is nearly 20
year old may be a bit dated, too. However, I think it is still interesting
history and how our understanding of the world is developed over time with
imagination, diligence, debate, testing and the effort to many people.
Amir Aczel also wrote:
If you’re interested in
this book, you may also be interested in
Aczel, Amir D. God’s Equation: Einstein, Relativity, and
the Expanding Universe. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1999.
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