first science
the missing science, the theory of everything, and the arrow of time
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Celebrating Biology and Physics
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – 22 November 2009 – This week we celebrate both biology and physics: one celebrating the past and one the present. One hundred and fifty years ago Charles Darwin published the Origin of Species, which explained his theory of biological evolution. This week the physics community will begin starting-up (for the second time) the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest particle accelerator.
The publication of the Origin of Species was a landmark historical event. The ideas underlying Darwin's theory still provide the framework for explaining biology today and evolution in general. However, the theory today does not explain the direction of time nor is it formally integrated with the foundations of physics.
At the same time, the US$10 billion LHC will test the predictions of a number of theories postulated by the mathematical physics community. So will the experimental findings of the LHC bring mathematical physics closer to explaining all of science?
The surprising answer is "no". Mathematical physics cannot explain all of science irrespective of the results from the LHC. In the book First Science, Dr Spencer Scoular shows that mathematical physics cannot, in principle, provide the foundations for the direction of time and, therefore, neither the foundations for evolution, biology nor all of science. Instead a deeper theory of science is required that provides these foundations. One candidate is Interface Theory, a theory explained in the book. Built from the premise that "laws of nature exist," this empirically based theory provides a framework that explains the foundations of both biology and physics.
"For too long science has been divided into the knowledge silos of the fathers Darwin [evolution] and Newton [mathematical physics], with no fundamental bridging of the gap," said Dr Spencer Scoular. "With the development of a more fundamental theory underlying both, such as Interface Theory, we may one day be able to celebrate a true unification of science."
So this week we say: "Three cheers for biology! Three cheers for physics!" And maybe one day in the future we will say: "Three cheers for the unification of science!"
About the author
Spencer Scoular holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and resides
in Auckland, New Zealand.
About the book
Spencer Scoular (2008), First science: The missing science, the theory
of everything, and the arrow of time. Boca Raton, Fl.: Universal
Publishers. ISBN: 1-59942-991-8.