1. Scientific Theories and Laws
2. The First Decade (1936-1946)
4. The Second Decade (1946-1956)
6. The Third Decade (1956-1966)
8. The Fourth Decade (1966-1976)
10. The Fifth Decade (1976-1986)
12. The Sixth Decade (1986-1996)
14. The Seventh Decade (1996-2006)
15. The Theory of More than Everything
16. The Eighth Decade (2006-2016)
18. The Ninth Decade (2016-2026)
Appendix A Paintings
Appendix B TTOMTE and a Steady State Universe
Appendix C Musical Compositions
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No matter which way the men pointed the telescope, the energy (temperature) always read about 30 Kelvin, three degrees above absolute zero. In Fahrenheit, that's 4590 below zero; bring jumper cables.
Using telescopes, we discovered that distances to visible objects were always farther than we thought. To get an idea of how far, take a look at the table below (with rounded numbers to keep them simple). The first column lists what we're measuring, the second column is in miles, the third column is in light-years, and the fourth is in light-years using scientific notation.
You know what miles are, but in case the meaning of a light-year has gotten fuzzy, here's the description again: A light-year is the distance light travels in one year moving at a rate of 186,000 miles per second, so a light-year is a measure of distance, not time. If anyone says, "You don't look a day over twenty-five light-years," it might have something to do with your waistline, not your age, and by the way, the statement's not a compliment. As a kid, when I first heard light had a speed, I'd sit outdoors and watch for a sudden break in the clouds. I thought I'd see the start of a beam as it traveled, but alas, I had the same problem as Galileo; light didn't take any time at all to get across the sky.
Light travels 186,000 miles per second, but sunlight still takes about eight minutes to get to us. Suppose you're standing outside one day, and the sun quits shining. The best you can say is "Oh oh, our sun went out eight minutes ago." That doesn't give us much chance to do anything because the effect has already hit us.
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