Every once in a while we do not have a speaker from outside our Rotary Club but one of our own members gives a talk about a subject of interest. This time it was I who talked about the latest news in cosmology. I am not a cosmologist. My experience included designing electronics for research instruments of outer space. That got me in touch with physicists and cosmologists. That work environment caused me to be interested and learn more about the universe we live in.
The leading scientist in our world today on that subject is Stephen Hawking in Cambridge, England. It was before I retired when Stephen Hawking came to Stanford to talk about his latest thoughts and discoveries. He gave the talk in Stanford’s physics auditorium. I knew that more people than seats would be at this event, so I got a seat 2 hours before the presentation. The amazing thing is that Stephen Hawking got Lou Gerick’s disease at an early age, yet managed to survive. He can’t talk nor is he able to stand and walk. A student who understands him talked for Stephen. He connects to the world via a computer. In spite of the extreme physical limitations, Stephen Hawking thinks deeply about our universe. The first thing he said to the audience was that he has bad news for us. “The expansion of the world, “he said ,“ will not stop. The universe will forever expand at an ever increasing speed”. Most of us expect that the universe behaves in a cyclical fashion. After the big bang the universe expanded like an explosion. Gravity, we thought, will pull the galaxies together, the expansion will slow down and eventually the universe will collapse into a black hole; after which it might explode into another universe. It left most of us with the uncomfortable feeling that our universe will extend to infinity until cold and dead. More is to be discovered about the universe and the prediction of a dead universe is billions of years away.
Stephen Hawking created a film explaining what we know about the universe, how it developed, how life may have started, and what the future holds.
At our weekly Rotary meeting, we watched a portion of his film and will continue at another occasion when we do not have a speaker. Anybody interested can join. I can be reached at 501 253 7171 or Email: [email protected]