Recent work in theoretical physics has sought to combine Einstein’s theory of general relativity with the other great physical idea of the 20th century called quantum field theory.
Big and small together
While Einstein’s work dealt with the vastness of the universe, quantum theory was originally formulated to explain the behavior of infinitely small particles, such as electrons and protons. The development of a quantum gravitational theory is occupying the minds of some of the greatest physicists of our age. It is still too early to tell what will be the final form of this new theory, but the implications of this attempt at a grand unification of all the laws of physics are beginning to emerge.
This is the work that has led physicists to salt mines and the tops of mountains to build powerful new telescopes. The quest for the secrets of the universe has also occupied the resources of huge laboratories in Europe and the United States where multinational scientific teams have been using powerful atom smashers to probe the secrets of the nuclear structure.
Atomic structure
The elementary constituents that make up the atom are so infinitely small that they cannot be directly observed. Experiments designed to study them have shot atomic particles into solid foils and then studied the debris that resulted from the collision.
To obtain even more powerful collisions, scientists realized stationary targets were inadequate. Instead, extremely energetic beams of elementary particles are confined by superconducting magnets as they are circulated in opposite directions, around a vacuum tube racetrack, and then forced to collide into each other. This process creates far more energy, just as a car going 30 mph that runs into a stationary wall produces less damage than the head-on collision of two cars going 30 mph. The head-on collision creates not twice, but rather, four times the energy of hitting a stationary target.
The head-on collision of rapidly moving particles is akin to trying to hit a speeding bullet with another one in order to stop them both. The amount of information gathered through this collider technique has been immense and it has shown that the sub-atomic world is far more complex than first imagined.
In the 1930’s, scientists thought atoms were composed of only three kind of elementary particles — electrons, protons and neutrons. Experiments over the past four decades have shown that there are literally scores of elementary particles, all of which are composed of even more elementary substances called “quarks.” These quarks come in different “flavors” and “colors” which are terms used to describe different states of the same elementary constituents.
The atom and the universe
What does the study of elementary particles have in common with an understanding of the cosmos? It seemed very little at first! The two branches of physics — elementary particle physics and astronomy -developed virtually independently. Little dialog occurred between them. Over the last twenty years, this has changed.
Physical scientists in particular were quick to perceive that the new findings of physics had profound implications with respect to their belief in God. Hence such recent books about physics entitled: “The Second Creation,”1 “God and the New Physics,”2 and “God and the Astronomers.”3 What brought about this change in attitude amongst physical scientists? Instead of sneering at the idea of a belief in God, the same community has suddenly shown new respect and awe for the evidence for God’s existence.
Grand Unification Theory
After Einstein developed the General Theory of Relativity, he spent the remainder of his life, nearly 40 years, trying to develop a unified field theory. This was an attempt to express in one simple concept all the physical laws of the universe. He failed because, among other things, he did not have enough information. The findings of the past 20 years have now put scientists hot on the trail of a unified field theory. Scientists now realize that the same forces governing the universe also control the subatomic world of protons, electrons and quarks. The fundamental principles seem to be the same everywhere. Is the Bible student surprised? Hardly! Consider the following:
“To him (God) who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him (God) that by wisdom made the heavens” (Psa. 136:4,5).
“By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psa. 33:6).
“…the LORD, which giveth…the ordinances of the moon and of the stars… If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever” (Jer. 31:35,36).
The universe and all things therein were made by the wisdom of one mind– God’s. Here is the why of the simple underlying principle of how the universe works. The physical laws of the universe are everlasting. The prophet Jeremiah cites the LORD as using this very concept to prove that His covenant of promises are unchangeable.
This steadfastness of God’s physical laws means that whether we observe events in an atom smashing laboratory that occur today or we peer into the night sky and observe the light of stars that may have taken eons to reach us, the same physical laws govern both events. Physicists may not have realized the Biblical implications of their basic assumption that the physical laws of the universe are constant with time. This simple principle forms the underlying concept which has put physicists on the doorstep of the Grand Unification Theory.4 If this is discovered, it will be the end of physics! The grand quest will be over; only the details would need to be contributed.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One