The Grand Design

Stephen Hawking is coming to The Netherlands to hold a lecture this month in Utrecht, and unfortunately, I was unable to attend this event, because the tickets were sold out within one minute. Which is severely disappointing, as it will most likely be Hawking's last visit considering his current health.

To somewhat counter my saddened state, I finished reading his latest book called The Grand Design, where new answers are written inside when speaking of the ultimate questions, such as why are we here and how did the universe began?

The Grand Design seemed to be more concrete to read than A Brief History of Time, and part of that easily comes from the fact that there is a distance of 22 years between the two books, as new discoveries have been made in astronomy and physics.

My favorite quote from the book turns out to be when speaking about the possibility of a multiverse: "Quantum fluctuations lead to the creation of tiny universes out of nothing. A few of these reach a critical size, then expand in an inflationary manner, forming galaxies, stars and, in at least one case, beings like us".

A general topic that constantly returns is Hawking's Theory of Everything concept. A broader term is shaped in the form of M-theory, proposing that there are 10 space and 1 time dimensions in this universe.

How and why these concepts and theories matter, is where I'd rather let the scientist talk about them, rather than myself. Assuming that the universal condition of M-theory is within the observable laws of nature, and considering the multiverse, quantum mechanics and string theory, it's very hard for a layman like me to discuss about these.

But I am learning from these popular publications. Such as the sections where Hawking talks about what Richard Feynman, the famous quantum scientist, has created and proposed over the decades. For instance, the idea of simultaneous particle paths to be taken in the chapter Alternative Histories is an astonishing read.

Although The Grand Design doesn't seem to offer anything really substantial true when speaking of scientific progression, it does have informed me of many scientific news related familiar concepts and theories anno 2010.

Rating: ***(out of 4)