discussion posts

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Physics: The Edge of Knowledge

Putting It Together: Summary Comments and Activities

In this series of TEDTalks, we’ve heard how the pursuit of fundamental physics has led us to a

beautiful and concise set of laws. As it stands today, experimental observations, both at the

smallest scales of the elementary particles and the largest distances of the cosmos, agree well with

the predictions of these laws.

Nevertheless, many questions remain unanswered: What is dark matter? What is the correct

quantum theory of gravity? Does supersymmetry exist? Are there extra dimensions of space? These

are just some of the big questions for which we don’t yet have answers.

New discoveries may be just out of reach, ripe for discovery with the next round of experiments, or

harder to find. In the latter case, we’ll need all our ingenuity to design and build the most effective

experiments or to discover the key theoretical idea(s) that will push us forward.

But even if we one day succeed in finding a fundamental “theory of everything,” there will still be

plenty to challenge our understanding. As Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Weinberg points

out, “In the Middle Ages Europeans drew maps of the world in which there were all kinds of exciting

things like dragons in unknown territories.” Yet even without "here be dragons," our modern-day

world is far from boring.

The successes of fundamental physics attest to humanity’s insatiable desire for exploration and our

thirst to understand the world around us and our place within it. Whatever the future holds, we can

be confident of one thing: humanity will keep finding big questions to ask.

Summary Activities

1. Starting with Sir Isaac Newton’s laws of mechanics and gravitation, explore the key ideas in

fundamental physics, many of which have been highlighted in these TEDTalks. Present

what you’ve learned in the form of a script for a radio or television program, a syllabus

(complete with suggested readings) for a course you might design, or an interactive

timeline (how far into the past can you extend your timeline?) Here are some names to get

you started:

 James Joule, John Dalton & Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot

 Ludwig Boltzmann & Josiah Willard Gibbs

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 Michael Faraday, André-Marie Ampère & James Clerk Maxwell

 Max Planck

 Ernst Rutherford

 Albert Einstein

 Erwin Schrödinger & Werner Heisenberg

 Paul Dirac & Wolfgang Pauli

 Edwin Hubble, Arno Penzias & Robert Wilson

 Sheldon Glashow, Steven Weinberg & Adbus Salam

 Peter Higgs

2. Write a short science fiction story incorporating any of the following ideas from

fundamental science:

 Quantum mechanics allows objects to be in two places at once.

 Einstein’s theories tell us that time travel into the future is possible (although time

travel into the past is forbidden).

 Einstein’s theories predict that space and time are malleable.

 Matter is largely empty space.

 The Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics predicts multiple realities.

 Models of the universe require the existence of dark energy.

 Anti-matter exists and with current technology it can be produced and stored in small

quantities.

 String theory requires the existence of extra spatial dimensions.

3. How much money does your country invest in fundamental science as a percentage of

GDP? How does this expenditure compare with other countries? What are the arguments

against increased spending on basic research, and what do you think of them? Create an

infographic to communicate the data, then discuss the impact of fundamental science and

whether the level of spending is justified. Good sources include:

 Cox, B (Presenter) and TED (Producer. (2011). Why we need the explorers [Video].

 Baden, D. (2012, December 13). Why mustn’t we let fundamental science fall off a

cliff? Ask Siri. Center for American Progress / Science Progress.

 Hand, E., Mole, B., Morello, M., Tollefson, J., Wadman, M., and Witze, A. (2013,

April 16). A back seat for basic science. Nature News.

 The Guardian: Science funding crisis (Directory of relevant articles)

 National Science Foundation: International Research and Development Data

 OECD: Research and Development Statistics.

 dos Remedios, C. (2006). The value of fundamental research. Discussion paper

prepared for the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics.

 de la Pena, J.A., Berlucchi, G., Bokensberg, A., Moreau, N., dos Remedios, C.,

(2004). The value of basic research [Position statement]. International Council for

Science.

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About the Authors: Jeff Forshaw is professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester and the author of

more than 100 scientific papers and books, including two best-selling popular science books. Peter Millington is a

postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sheffield, working on the mathematical underpinnings of the very

early universe.