The Atom and the Apple

Title: The Atom and the Apple – Twelve Tales From Contemporary Physics

Author: Sebastien Balibar

Publisher: Princeton University Press 2008 (First published 2005)

ISBN: 978-0-691-13108-5

Pages: 178

Sebastien Balibar is a leading researcher and popularizer of science in France. This book is a translation of his French work. It includes twelve chapters based on the varied aspects of scientific research, particularly on physics. Every chapter begins with a personal experience of the author in a related incident, rooting on which the narrative of the chapter, or tale as he says, is developed. All issues discussed are having due significance in the present world, like energy crisis, global warming, present trends in cosmology and such like.

The author begins with Olbers’ paradox which suggested in the 19^th century that the night sky should not be black if the number of stars are infinite or if the universe existed for an infinite time. The logical problem confused even the most brilliant minds of the time and the collective opinion was that the stars are not infinite and the age of the universe is fixed. After a clear enunciation of the idea, recent trends in cosmological research is discussed in good detail.

Symmetry is having profound influence in science. Most of the unifications were based on the symmetries presented in the theories. Even life forms respect symmetry in curious ways. The complex organic molecules which makes aminoacids are displaying right-handedness in the polarisation of light. The same substances, when synthesized in vitro, are a mixture of right- and left-handedness. This chirality does not make them differ in any of the properties as the molecules and the bonds which make the substances are exactly the same. Such a symmetry exists between matter and antimatter, but the universe as we see it are dominated by matter. The symmetry violation between these two forms are thought to have occurred right after the big bang, resulting in a slight preference to matter, which predominated over the other form over time.

Radioactivity warms up the interior core of earth. Attempts of the press to sensationalize information by bringing out the units of radioactivity in alarming detail is derided and a good description of the early history of earth is given. For life to be feasible on exoplanets (planets in stellar systems outside the solar system), the atmospheric conditions would have to be practically the same as that of earth. Here the author seems to be too much conditioned to expect the life forms as we know it. The universe is too complex and vast and we have to anticipate life in very much unfamiliar ways. An interesting but unrelated book on life forms totally strange to us is Life As We Do Not Know It by Peter Ward. (Reviewed earlier in this blog).

Bose-Einstein condensate is a topic on quantum mechanics and we would not expect it to show itself on a book of this nature. However, a reasonably good information is supplied. The theory was verified in 1995 and the scientists received the Nobel in 2001. When atoms are cooled down very nearly to absolute zero, the thermal movements of its molecules slow down and atoms move to a single quantum state and acts as a coherent wave. Even though the description was reader friendly, this chapter was somewhat heavy to get through.

Questions may arise as to what constitutes quantum properties, whether a table obeys quantum laws. Schrodinger’s famous thought experiment on the cat is a familiar example, in which the life of a caged cat was dependent on the purely quantum outcome of the disintegration of a radioactive nucleus. Schrodinger then suggested that the cat may be thought to be dead and alive at the same time, even though what he had in mind was bringing into focus the seemingly illogical aspects of quantum mechanics of his rival, Heisenberg. The explanation given by Balibar is clear and convincing. Cat is classical while particle is quantum. Classical objects are non-coherent which interacts with the macroscopic world and quantum parameters cannot be ascribed to them. Hence, the cat experiment is not a valid one on theory. The interference pattern observed when light channelled through two slits cannot be observed if ordinary lamps are used instead of coherent beams like laser. This explains why the trials of several amateurs (myself included) failed to demonstrate the interference pattern and which was attributed to the crudeness of the experimental setup until now!

After all these topics of general interest, Balibar brings out his own topics of research and how far he has advanced in these. Helium exhibits a property called ‘superfluidity’ below a temperature named Lambda point. The term ‘superfluidity’ was coined by the noted Russian scientist Kapitza and further developed by another Russian, Landau. The author’s investigations are on the crystallization of solid helium and he claims that Jack Allen and Fritz London, though they had produced insightful work, are not honoured in the way it deserved. The discontinuous state change of a material, like freezing of boiling of water is not fully understood. It is a bit ironic that when the search for a unified theory of everything is going on, such commonplace yet complex phenomena are sidelined. Another case in point is the chaotic flow of fluids. In any scientific endeavour, the triad of observation, modelling and verification is the framework of science.

The ‘Butterfly effect’ is very familiar term associated with weather forecasting, which gets its name from a talk given by the meterologist Edward Lorenz in Washington in 1972: “Predictability: Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” There he emphasized that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in some location was more or less enough to change the subsequent evolution of the whole atmosphere completely, so great is its sensitivity to initial conditions (p.124). So great is the dependence of a chaotic system on its initial conditions. This chaotic nature prevents prediction of weather by more than two weeks. The author asserts that by however much our computing power is increased, or the parameters are accurately measured, the prediction will be impossible on a time frame exceeding two weeks. However, these chaotic systems obey deterministic laws like Navier Stokes Law for hydrodynamics.

The Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci series finds prominent place in the arrangement of many biological systems, the florets of sun flower being one among them. The physical processes, the ‘motivation’ for the objects to obey such mathematical rules are brought out in clear detail. The author could have gone a little bit deeper into the topic.

The total power consumption in 2000 was 14,000 GW for 6 billion inhabitants, or about 2kW per person. There were regional variations, with 11 kW in U.S., 5 kW in France and much less than 1 kW in the developing world. Of this, about 32% comes from oil, 26% from coal, and 19% from gas, which adds up to 77% from non-renewable fossil fuels. The remaining comes from 5% nuclear, 6% hydroelectric, 10% from biomass like wood, and only 1 or 2% from other kinds of energy which are renewable. Carbon dioxide emission is increasing due to this increased consumption of fossil fuels. Global temperatures may go up by about 3 deg C if the CO₂ emission is not controlled. This may not seem much, but we must keep in mind that about 20,000 years ago, when the world’s average temperature was less than present day’s standard by about 6 deg C, most of the northern parts of Europe and America was under ice sheets 2 to 3 km thick! We must reduce the contribution of fossil fuels from 77% to 20% by 2050. Nuclear energy, though a producer of dangerous waste, is one of the sure bets for this target. Plutonium 239, with a half-life of 24,000 years is the most hazardous waste material from nuclear plants. Fast breeder reactor technology should catch up fast so that this material can be reused in reactors itself. The main drawback of such a technology is the extensive cooling arrangements required. Nuclear fusion is touted as a perennial source of energy, but the engineering difficulties are not going to be solved in a foreseeable future. In ordinary reactors, neutrons are emitted with an energy of 1 MeV, but in fusion reactors, the energy is of the order of 14 MeV and no steel is able to withstand such a tremendous onslaught. Hydro, solar and wind energy also should be explored and used. The theoretical maximum output of a solar cell is 25% and the best converters available has an efficiency of 12% only.

In the final chapter, the author criticises the protective attitude shown by French politicians towards the French language. They have made it mandatory by a law called Toubon’s Law that any seminar, publication, material published in France and subsidised by the state should contain provisions for distributing the material translated in French. This causes a great burden on the resources of the institutes and such short-sighted attitudes won’t help promote scientific research in France. The author acknowledges that the language of international science is now English and in countries like Italy, Finland and Holland, higher education is now only in English, even though he thinks such a measure is a bit premature in France.

Sebastien Balibar is endowed with a great amount of French patriotism, which is well expected and displayed by French authors. He calls the well known Doppler effect, Doppler-Fizeau effect, in honour of the French astronomer Armand Fizeau who found a way of measuring a star’s speed from its spectrum. In addition to the scientists, the topics mentioned are also heavily flavoured with the nationalistic ingredient. Moreover, the author’s own researches into the crystallization of super cooled helium is given undue importance judged from its applicability or relevance to lay readers.

The author seems to have an aversion for space travel. Robots are the best suited for space exploration and the immense expenses for the International Space Station (ISS) is wasted, according to him. This may seem irrational to us, as the experiences of humans in space is very valuable for studying astronomical objects. Balibar ends with an afterword which takes a dig at Stephen Hawking, for the incomprehensible subjects he mentions in his public speeches. The author and Hawking were invited as speakers in the Loeb lecture series of 1999. Hawking’s lecture was addressed to a full house and had to be repeated with paid tickets in a larger hall, the next day. But Hawking’s lecture was full of hard to understand topics which the audience didn’t seem to mind, whereas the author’s simple yet elegant lecture was attended by a maximum of hundred people! The criticism seemed to be unwarranted and out of place.

The book is very good for any class of readers. The author’s treatment of the concepts is flexible and seamless. If you want to find an easy way to tell a difficult scientific concept, look at Balibar for guidance. The ease with which his transitions are made from his own experiences to the issue on debate is enviable.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star