"natural theology > notes > 2015 > Sunday 1 November "

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Aristotle, and (translated by P H Wickstead and F M Cornford), Physics books I-IV, Harvard University Press, William Heinemann 1980 Introduction: 'The title "Physics" is misleading. .. "Lectures on Nature" the alternative title found in editions of the Greek text, is more enlightening. ... The realm of Nature, for Aristotle, includes all things that move and change ... . Thus the ultimate "matter" which, according to Aristotle, underlies all the elementary substances must be studied, in its changes at least, by the Natural Philosopher. And so must the eternal heavenly spheres of the Aristotelean philosophy, insofar as they themselves move of are the cause of motion in the sublunary world.'
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Ashby, W Ross, An Introduction to Cybernetics, Methuen 1964 'This book is intended to provide [an introduction to cybernetics]. It starts from common-place and well understood concepts, and proceeds step by step to show how these concepts can be made exact, and how they can be developed until they lead into such subjects as feedback, stability, regulation, ultrastability, information, coding, noise and other cybernetic topics'
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Augustine, Saint, and Edmond Hill (Introduction, translation and notes), and John E Rotelle (editor), The Trinity, New City Press 1991 Written 399 - 419: De Trinitate is a radical restatement, defence and development of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Augistine's book has served as a foundation for most subsequent work, particularly that of Thomas Aquinas.
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Feynman, Richard P, and Robert B Leighton, Matthew Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics (volume 3) : Quantum Mechanics, Addison Wesley 1970 Foreword: 'This set of lectures tries to elucidate from the beginning those features of quantum mechanics which are the most basic and the most general. . . . In each instance the ideas are introduced together with a detailed discussion of some specific examples - to try to make the physical ideas as real as possible.' Matthew Sands
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Feynman, Richard Phillips, Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Mechanics, World Scientific Publishing Company 9812563806 • ISBN-13: 978-9812563804 2005 Amazon editorial review: 'Editorial Reviews Review 'The young Feynman revealed here was full of invention, verve, and ambition. His new approach to quantum mechanics, after simmering for decades beneath the surface of theoretical physics, burst into new prominence in the 1970s. Now its influence is pervasive, and still expanding. Feynman's original presentation is not only uniquely clear, but also contains insights and perspectives that are not widely known, and might well provide ammunition for another explosion or two.' Frank Wilczek
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Fitzgerald, A E, and David E Higginbotham, , Mcgraw Hill 1957
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Goetz, Philip W, and (Editor-in-Chief), Encyclopaedia Britannica, Helen Hemingway Benton 1981
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Khinchin, Aleksandr Yakovlevich, The Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Statistics, Dover 1998 'In the area of quantum statistics, I show that a rigorous mathematical basis of the computational formulas of statistical physics . . . may be obtained from an elementary application of the well-developed limit theorems of the theory of probability.'
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Veltman, Martinus, Diagrammatica: The Path to the Feynman Rules, Cambridge University Press 1994 Jacket: 'This book provides an easily accessible introduction to quantum field theory via Feynman rules and calculations in particle physics. The aim is to make clear what the physical foundations of present-day field theory are, to clarify the physical content of Feynman rules, and to outline their domain of applicability. ... The book includes valuable appendices that review some essential mathematics, including complex spaces, matrices, the CBH equation, traces and dimensional regularization. ...'
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Papers

Dirac, P A M, "The Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics", Physikalische Zeitschrift der Sowjetunion, 3, 1, 1933, page 64-72. 'Quantum mechanics was built up on a foundation of analogy with the Hamiltonian theory of classical mechanics. . . . there is an alternative formulation of classical dynamics provided by the Lagrangian. This requires one to work in terms of coordinates and velocities instead of coordinates and momenta. The two formulations are, of course, closely related, but there are reasons for believing that the Lagrangian one is the more fundamental.' Reprinted in Julian Schwinger (editor), Selected Papers on Quantum Electrodynamics, Dover, New York, 1958.. back

Feynman, R P, "Space-Time approach to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics", Reviews of Modern Physics, 20, , 1948, page 367 - 387. 'Non-relativistic quantum mechanics is formulated here in a different way. It is, however, mathematically equivalent to the familiar formulation. In quantum mechanics the probability of an event which can happen in several different ways is the absolute square of a sum of the complex contributions, one from each alternative way. The probability that a particle will be found to have a path x(t) lying somewere within a region of space time is the square of a sum of contributions, one from each path in the region. The contribution from a single path is postulated to be an exponential whose (imaginary) phase is the classical action (in units of h) for the path in question. The total contribution from all paths reaching , x, t from the past is the wave function psi(x, t). This is shown to satisfy Schroedinger's equation. The relation to matrix agebra is discussed. Applications are indicated, in particular to eliminate the coordinates of the field oscillators from the equations of quantum electrodynamics.'. back

Links

Albert Einstein, On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, An english translation of the paper that founded Special relativity. 'Examples of this sort, [in the contemporary application of Maxwell's electrodynamics to moving bodies] together with the unsuccessful attempts to discover any motion of the earth relatively to the ``light medium,'' suggest that the phenomena of electrodynamics as well as of mechanics possess no properties corresponding to the idea of absolute rest. They suggest rather that, as has already been shown to the first order of small quantities, the same laws of electrodynamics and optics will be valid for all frames of reference for which the equations of mechanics hold good.' back

Andreas Ortmann, The replication crisis has engulfed economics, 'A sense of crisis is developing in economics after two Federal Reserve economists came to the alarming conclusion that economics research is usually not replicable. The economists took 67 empirical papers from 13 reputable academic journals. Without assistance from the original researchers they were only able to get the same result in a third of cases. With the original researchers’ assistance, that percentage increased to about half, suggesting reporting practices and requirements are seriously deficient.' back

Aristotle - On the Soul, On the Soul - The Internet Classics Archive, 'Holding as we do that, while knowledge of any kind is a thing to be honoured and prized, one kind of it may, either by reason of its greater exactness or of a higher dignity and greater wonderfulness in its objects, be more honourable and precious than another, on both accounts we should naturally be led to place in the front rank the study of the soul. The knowledge of the soul admittedly contributes greatly to the advance of truth in general, and, above all, to our understanding of Nature, for the soul is in some sense the principle of animal life. Our aim is to grasp and understand, first its essential nature, and secondly its properties; of these some are taught to be affections proper to the soul itself, while others are considered to attach to the animal owing to the presence within it of soul.' back

Boolean algebra - Wikipedia, Boolean algebra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In mathematics and mathematical logic, Boolean algebra is the branch of algebra in which the values of the variables are the truth values true and false, usually denoted 1 and 0 respectively. Instead of elementary algebra where the values of the variables are numbers, and the main operations are addition and multiplication, the main operations of Boolean algebra are the conjunction and, denoted ∧, the disjunction or, denoted ∨, and the negation not, denoted ¬. It is thus a formalism for describing logical relations in the same way that ordinary algebra describes numeric relations.' back

Bose-Einstein statistics - Wikipedia, Bose-Einstein statistics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In statistical mechanics, Bose–Einstein statistics (or more colloquially B–E statistics) determines the statistical distribution of identical indistinguishable bosons over the energy states in thermal equilibrium.' back

Chritine L. Corton, The Return of London's Fog, 'Cambridge, England — IN January, researchers at King’s College London announced that pollution levels on Oxford Street, in central London, had exceeded limits set for the entire year in just the first four days of 2015. Similarly alarming numbers have been recorded for other streets in the city — and yet the mayor, Boris Johnson, has delayed implementation of stricter air-quality measures until 2020.' back

Chrstopher Shields, Aristotle's Psychology - Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 'De Anima, . . . introduces as a question for consideration “whether all affections are common to what has the soul or whether there is some affection peculiar to the soul itself” (De Anima i 1, 402a3–5). That is, in De Anima Aristotle wants to know whether all psychological states are also material states of the body. “This,” he remarks, “it is necessary to grasp, but not easy” (De Anima i 1, 402a5). In this way, De Anima proceeds at a higher level of abstraction than the Parva Naturalia. It is generally more theoretical, more self-conscious about method, and more alert to general philosophical questions about perception, thinking, and soul-body relations. back

CSIRO, Australian National Outlook 2015, ' Helping to navigate the future The National Outlook is a first attempt to understand and analyse the connections in Australia’s physical economy many decades into the future.' back

dailytheology.org, (DT) Daily Theology, 'Rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition, our posts aim at creating conversations that are meaningful for a diversity of human experiences today. We hope to integrate intellectual endeavor with spiritual exploration by viewing relevant topics–from pop culture to family life to world politics–through distinct theological disciplines–from ethics to liturgical studies to systematic theology. We promote honest and open dialogue through accessible, critical, and self-reflective writing that seeks deeper understanding of our Christian faith and upholds the dignity of all people.' back

David Kaiser, How Politics Shaped General Relativity, 'In the 100 years since, Einstein’s theory has been famously successful. Physicists and astronomers have applied general relativity to far-flung reaches of the cosmos, and no experiment or observation has yet revealed a discrepancy. Less commonly understood, however, is how thoroughly the research into this profound, abstruse and seemingly otherworldly theory was shaped by the messy human dramas of the past century.' back

Delphi Classics, Delphi Classics, 'We are a publishing team that blends our love of classic literature and art with consummate eBook editing skills. What separates Delphi Classics from other digital publishers of classic literature is our dedication to providing the actual complete works of authors, as we seek out rare and ‘lost’ texts to add to our attractive editions. For the first time in publishing history, readers can enjoy the complete works of writers such as Virginia Woolf, Mark Twain, James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, Beatrix Potter and many, many more in a single edition. And each collection is charged at less than the price of a cup of coffee.' back

Fermi-Dirac statistics - Wikipedia, Fermi-Dirac statistics - Wikipedia, the fre encyclopedia, 'In statistical mechanics, Fermi-Dirac statistics is a particular case of particle statistics developed by Enrico Fermi and Paul Dirac that determines the statistical distribution of fermions over the energy states for a system in thermal equilibrium. In other words, it is the distribution of the probabilities that each possible energy levels is occupied by a fermion. back

Gödel number - Wikipedia, Gödel number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In mathematical logic, a Gödel numbering is a function that assigns to each symbol and well-formed formula of some formal language a unique natural number, called its Gödel number. The concept was first used by Kurt Gödel for the proof of his incompleteness theorem. A Gödel numbering can be interpreted as an encoding in which a number is assigned to each symbol of a mathematical notation, after which a sequence of natural numbers can then represent a sequence of strings. These sequences of natural numbers can again be represented by single natural numbers, facilitating their manipulation in formal theories of arithmetic.' back

Harriet Sherwood, Religious children are meaner than their secular counterparts, study finds, 'They found that religious belief is a negative influence on children’s altruism. “Overall, our findings ... contradict the commonsense and popular assumption that children from religious households are more altruistic and kind towards others,” said the authors of The Negative Association Between Religiousness and Children’s Altruism Across the World, published this week in Current Biology. back

Juan Yin et al, Bounding the speed of 'spooky action at a distance', 'In the well-known EPR paper, Einstein et al. called the nonlocal correlation in quantum entanglement as `spooky action at a distance'. If the spooky action does exist, what is its speed? All previous experiments along this direction have locality loopholes and thus can be explained without having to invoke any `spooky action' at all. Here, we strictly closed the locality loopholes by observing a 12-hour continuous violation of Bell inequality and concluded that the lower bound speed of `spooky action' was four orders of magnitude of the speed of light if the Earth's speed in any inertial reference frame was less than 10^(-3) times of the speed of light.' back

Lowenheim–Skolem theorem - Wikipedia, Löwenheim–Skolem theorem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In mathematical logic, the Löwenheim–Skolem theorem states that if a countable first-order theory has an infinite model, then for every infinite cardinal number κ it has a model of size κ. The result implies that first-order theories are unable to control the cardinality of their infinite models, and that no first-order theory with an infinite model can have exactly one model up to isomorphism. The (downward) Löwenheim–Skolem theorem is one of the two key properties, along with the compactness theorem, that is used in Lindström's theorem to characterize first-order logic. In general, the Löwenheim–Skolem theorem does not hold in stronger logics such as second-order logic.' back

Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics - Wikipedia, Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In statistical mechanics, Maxwell–Boltzmann statistics describes the statistical distribution of material particles over various energy states in thermal equilibrium, when the temperature is high enough and density is low enough to render quantum effects negligible.' back

Memory management - Wikipedia, Memory management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Memory management is the act of managing computer memory at the system level. The essential requirement of memory management is to provide ways to dynamically allocate portions of memory to programs at their request, and free it for reuse when no longer needed. This is critical to any advanced computer system where more than a single process might be underway at any time.' back

Micah Lakin Avni, The Facebook Infitada, 'Sickeningly, my father, too, became a viral hit on Palestinian social media: Hours after he was shot and stabbed, a video re-enactment of the attack was posted online celebrating the gruesome incident, and calling on more young Palestinians to go out and murder Jews. Such images, YouTube videos and comments have become a regular feature on social media after every attack.' back

Michael Corkery nd Jessica Silver-Greenberg, In Religious Arbitration Scripture if the Rule of Law, 'To his family and friends, Mr. Ellison’s professed identity change was just one of many clues that something had gone wrong at the program, Teen Challenge, where he had been sent by a judge as an alternative to jail. But when his family sued Teen Challenge in 2012 hoping to uncover what had happened, they quickly hit a wall. When he was admitted to the program, at age 20, Mr. Ellison signed a contract that prevented him and his family from taking the Christian group to court. Instead, his claim had to be resolved through a mediation or arbitration process that would be bound not by state or federal law, but by the Bible. “The Holy Scripture shall be the supreme authority,” the rules of the proceedings state.' back

Minkowski space - Wikipedia, Minkowski space - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In mathematical physics, Minkowski space or Minkowski spacetime is a combination of Euclidean space and time into a four-dimensional manifold where the spacetime interval between any two events is independent of the inertial frame of reference in which they are recorded. Although initially developed by mathematician Hermann Minkowski for Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism, the mathematical structure of Minkowski spacetime was shown to be an immediate consequence of the postulates of special relativity.' back

N D Cook, Unification of Nuclear Structure Theory is Possible, Essay Abstract 'The impossibility of achieving a unified theory of nuclear structure has been the conventional wisdom in nuclear physics since the 1960s. However, already in 1937 Eugene Wigner indicated a way forward in theoretical work that eventually led to a Nobel Prize, but not directly to unification. Specifically, he showed that the symmetries of the Schrodinger equation have an intrinsic face-centered-cubic (FCC) geometry. Those symmetries provide for a fully quantum mechanical unification of the diverse models of nuclear structure theory, as indicated by the following facts: (i) The FCC lattice reproduces the properties of the liquid-drop model due to short-range nucleon-nucleon interactions (constant core density, saturation of binding energies, nuclear radii dependent on the number of nucleons, vibrational states, etc.). (ii) There is an inherent tetrahedral subgrouping of nucleons in the close-packed lattice (producing configurations of alpha clusters identical to those in the cluster models). And, most importantly, (iii) all of the quantum n-shells, and j- and m-subshells of the independent-particle model are reproduced as spherical, cylindrical and conical substructures within the FCC lattice – with, moreover, proton and neutron occupancies in each shell and subshell identical to those known from the shell model. These facts were established in the 1970s and 1980s, but the “impossibility of unification” had already achieved the status of dogma by the 1960s. Here, I present the case for viewing the lattice model as a unification of tradi'tional nuclear structure theory – an unambiguous example of how declarations of the “impossibility” of progress can impede progress. back

Positional notation - Wikipedia, Positional notation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Positional notation or place-value notation is a generalization of decimal notation to arbitrary base. These include binary (base 2) and hexadecimal (base 16) notations used by computers as well as the base 60 notation of Babylonian numerals. The deveolopment of positional notation is closely tied with the discovery of zero and the development of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. Positional notation is distinguished from previous notations (such as Roman numerals) for it's use of the same symbol for the different orders of magnitude (for example, the "one's place", "ten's place", "hundred's place"). This greatly simplified arithmetic and lead to the quick spread of the notation across the world.' back

Q factor - Wikipedia, Q factor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In physics and engineering the quality factor or Q factor is a dimensionless parameter that describes how under-damped an oscillator or resonator is,[1] or equivalently, characterizes a resonator's bandwidth relative to its center frequency.[2] Higher Q indicates a lower rate of energy loss relative to the stored energy of the oscillator; the oscillations die out more slowly.' back

Ross Douhat, Letter to the Catholic Academy, 'So in my columns, I’ve tried to cut through those obfuscations toward what seems like basic truth. There really is a high-stakes division, at the highest levels of the church, over whether to admit divorced and remarried Catholics to communion and what that change would mean. In this division, the pope clearly inclines toward the liberalizing view and has consistently maneuvered to advance it. At the recent synod, he was dealt a modest but genuine setback by conservatives.' back

Ross Gittins, Economists propose same old same old on tax reform, 'It's a way for economists to appear to have useful advice on problems they don't really know much about. Q: How should we encourage people to work more? A: cut the company tax rate and the top rate on individuals. Q: How should we encourage people to save more? A: cut the company tax rate and the top rate on individuals. Q: How should we encourage people to invest more? A: cut the company tax rate and the top rate on individuals. Q: How should we encourage innovation? A: cut the company tax rate and the top rate on individuals. Q: How can we make the economy more agile? A: cut the company tax rate and the top rate on individuals.' back

Sheffer stroke - Wikipedia, Sheffer stroke - Wikipedia, the fre encyclopedia, 'The Sheffer stroke, written "|" or "?", in the subject matter of boolean functions or propositional calculus, denotes a logical operation that is equivalent to the negation of the conjunction operation, expressed in ordinary language as "not both". It is also called the alternative denial, since it says in effect that at least one of its operands is false. In Boolean algebra and digital electronics it is known as the NAND operation ("not and").' back

Statistical mechanics - Wikipedia, Statistical mechanics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Statistical mechanics (or statistical thermodynamics is the application of probability theory, which includes mathematical tools for dealing with large populations, to the field of mechanics, which is concerned with the motion of particles or objects when subjected to a force. . . . The essential problem in statistical thermodynamics is to determine the distribution of a given amount of energy E over N identical systems. The goal of statistical thermodynamics is to understand and to interpret the measurable macroscopic properties of materials in terms of the properties of their constituent particles and the interactions between them. This is done by connecting thermodynamic functions to quantum-mechanic equations. Two central quantities in statistical thermodynamics are the Boltzmann factor and the partition function.' back

Steve Hatfield-Dodds et. al, Australia is 'free to choose' economic growth and falling environmental pressures, Abstract: Over two centuries of economic growth have put undeniable pressure on the ecological systems that underpin human well-being. While it is agreed that these pressures are increasing, views divide on how they may be alleviated. Some suggest technological advances will automatically keep us from transgressing key environmental thresholds; others that policy reform can reconcile economic and ecological goals; while a third school argues that only a fundamental shift in societal values can keep human demands within the Earth’s ecological limits. Here we use novel integrated analysis of the energy–water–food nexus, rural land use (including biodiversity), material flows and climate change to explore whether mounting ecological pressures in Australia can be reversed, while the population grows and living standards improve. We show that, in the right circumstances, economic and environmental outcomes can be decoupled. Although economic growth is strong across all scenarios, environmental performance varies widely: pressures are projected to more than double, stabilize or fall markedly by 2050. However, we find no evidence that decoupling will occur automatically. Nor do we find that a shift in societal values is required. Rather, extensions of current policies that mobilize technology and incentivize reduced pressure account for the majority of differences in environmental performance. Our results show that Australia can make great progress towards sustainable prosperity, if it chooses to do so.' back

Stoicism - Wikipedia, Stoicism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC. The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and the active relationship between cosmic determinism and human freedom, and the belief that it is virtuous to maintain a will (called prohairesis) that is in accord with nature. Because of this, the Stoics presented their philosophy as a way of life, and they thought that the best indication of an individual's philosophy was not what a person said but how that person behaved.' back

Timothy Egan, Fossil Fools, 'It’s not surprising, given its army of first-rate scientists and engineers, that Exxon was aware as far back as the 1970s that carbon dioxide from oil and gas burning could have dire effects on the earth. Nor is it surprising that Exxon would later try to cast doubt on what its experts knew to be true, to inject informational pollution into the river of knowledge about climate change. But what is startling is how a deliberate campaign of misinformation — now disavowed by even Exxon Mobil itself — has found its way into the minds of the leading Republican presidential candidates.' back

Yoni - Wikipedia, Yoni - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Yoni (Sanskrit: योनि yoni, literally "vagina" or "womb") is the symbol of the Goddess (Shakti or Devi), the Hindu Divine Mother. Within Shaivism, the sect dedicated to the god Shiva, the yoni symbolizes his consort. The male counterpart of the yoni is the lingam. Their union represents the eternal process of creation and regeneration.' back

vol VII: Notes

2015

Notes

Sunday 1 November 2015

Monday 2 November 2015

Tuesday 3 November 2015

Wednesday 4 November 2015

Thursday 5 November 2015

Friday 6 November 2015

Saturday 7 November 2015

Further reading

Books

Papers

Links