Edith Falls - 24 July 2009

Tonight I am at Edith Falls, in Nitmiluk National Park, near Katherine. I spent today lounging around plunge pools, swimming, walking, bird watching, and reading a book. It was all very interesting, but the bit that may be of wider interest - or quite equally may not be, as certainly not everyone will be - is the book.

Edith Falls at Dusk.

A Short History Of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson. So far it is shaping up as a short history of the universe, earth, physics, chemistry, geology, and life on earth. However it is littered with stories about 18th century thinkers/scientists. Usually about how crazy, or how misfortunate they were. The things that most struck me though were; how everybody seems to have know everybody else; how if you have a brain and know how to give it a work out you could try your hand in almost any area of science (or very unscientific pursuits for that matter); and how much fun the institutions they created(such as the Royal Society and Zoological society) must have been, if you could wade through the jargon the information was hidden in.

One of my favourite stories is about this guy who provided excellent intellectual insights into astronomy, but also believed that humans had evolved downward facing nostrils so as not to catch diseases and viruses such as influenza and the bubonic plague that fell to earth from space.

But to the scientific points in the book:

-The universe started as a singularity. A hell of a lot of matter jammed into a very small space. Well actually, not a space because the three dimensions that make up space didn't really exist. Something made this suddenly expand (not so much as explode) creating hydrogen, helium and a tiny bit of lithium in the process. The 'Big Bang' was termed by a strong skeptic of the idea as a way of ridiculing it.

-Eventually the universe will find out if gravity is too strong, too weak, or just right. Too strong the universe will implode: to what I don’t think anybody really knows. Too weak and the universe will end up a vast empty space. As it is space is emptier than the best vacuum ever made on earth. Just right, and the universe will stay in a stable state largely resembling what it is now.

None of us, and most likely none of mankind will be around to find out at the rate we are going.

-Neutron stars/ Supernovae are cool. And are responsible for the creation of all the heavier elements that life relies on. There is a priest in Australia who is for some reason really good at finding supernovae. I wonder if he thinks god created them for a reason, or just likes watching massive stars explode as much as he does?

-A few hundred years ago geology was really really trendy. The attire for gentlemen of the Geological Society for an afternoon's 'stone breaking' was top hat, suit, and tie. Although a certain distinguished geologist insisted on an academic gown. I would hazard a guess that geology is not in for a similar resurgence for a long time yet!

-When you are an experimental chemist, don't taste everything.

-It seems I am not very good at re-telling stories or reviewing books. If you have a better understanding of the subject than me feel free to post corrections or other interesting facts.

Ciao
A Red-winged parrot by the bank of the Edith River. It is a female.