Table of Contents

Preface

1. Scientific Theories and Laws

2. The First Decade (1936-1946)

3. Relativity

4. The Second Decade (1946-1956)

5. Quantum Mechanics

6. The Third Decade (1956-1966)

7. The Big Bang

8. The Fourth Decade (1966-1976)

9. The Non-Bang

10. The Fifth Decade (1976-1986)

11. The Never-Bang

12. The Sixth Decade (1986-1996)

13. Evolution

14. The Seventh Decade (1996-2006)

15. The Theory of More than Everything

16. The Eighth Decade (2006-2016)

17. Now What?

18. The Ninth Decade (2016-2026)

Appendix A Paintings

Appendix B TTOMTE and a Steady State Universe

Appendix C Musical Compositions

Bibliography

Chapter 0-Page 0

It's odd that the popular use of the term "quantum leap" has come to mean a big jump while it usually is the smallest jump possible.

This smallest-jump idea affected how we think of light. Light might be jumpy too, a fact that helps explain radioactivity. Is light a wave, or is it a particle? And the answer is yes.

Light is not only a wave as we thought when we looked at Relativity but also comes in little energy-bundles called photons. If you remember from Chapter Three, the two slit box exhibited the wave property of light about two hundred years ago. Now, Planck was saying photons explained a puzzle having to do with radiation frequencies.

Einstein expanded the idea to all radiation including light. He said photons also explain the photoelectric effect. A light, pointed at a charged, metal plate, knocks electrons out of the metal. A brighter light knocks out more electrons, but each electron has no more energy. If a light with the same brightness but higher frequency shines on the block, the electrons have more energy. Waves can't explain why, but flying particles can. Photons have momentum but no mass, a rather strange situation, but momentum is a common way of measuring energy. If photons had mass, they'd break the rule that matter can't travel the speed of light, so photons are pure energy measured as momentum. (Recent experiments may indicate photons have mass raising questions about Relativity. See how we have to be ready for anything in this business?)

Light travels in bundles of energy called photons while pretending it's a wave.

CAN WE PREDICT THE FUTURE

In Newton's time, everyone thought the universe was one big machine. If we know where every piece of matter is, how much mass it has, and which way it's going, we should be able to predict the position of everything in the next minute or the next century. However, foretelling the future can be very complicated sometimes: We can predict every lunar eclipse for the next five hundred years, but weather reports are questionable for next week.

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Sections

WHAT'S INSIDE MATTER

WHAT'S INSIDE ATOMS

WHAT IS LIGHT, REALLY

CAN WE PREDICT THE FUTURE

HOW DOES A QUANTUM ATOM ACT

CAN PARTICLES ACT LIKE WAVES

DO TWO SLITS MAKE SENSE

HOW DO QUANTUM NUCLEI ACT

WHAT'S INSIDE PROTONS/NEUTRONS

FINAL THOUGHTS

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