Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Notes on Usage
- 1 The Nineteenth Century's Last Five Years
- Part I The Import of Theoretical Tools
- Part II A National Plan Shaping the Universe We Perceive
- 7 A New Order and the New Universe It Produced
- 8 Where Did the Chemical Elements Arise?
- 9 Landscapes
- 10 The Evolution of Astrophysical Theory after 1960
- 11 Turmoils of Leadership
- 12 Cascades and Shocks that Shape Astrophysics
- 13 Astrophysical Discourse and Persuasion
- Part III The Cost of Discerning the True Universe
- Epilogue
- Appendix: Symbols, Glossary, Units and Their Ranges
- Index
- References
12 - Cascades and Shocks that Shape Astrophysics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Notes on Usage
- 1 The Nineteenth Century's Last Five Years
- Part I The Import of Theoretical Tools
- Part II A National Plan Shaping the Universe We Perceive
- 7 A New Order and the New Universe It Produced
- 8 Where Did the Chemical Elements Arise?
- 9 Landscapes
- 10 The Evolution of Astrophysical Theory after 1960
- 11 Turmoils of Leadership
- 12 Cascades and Shocks that Shape Astrophysics
- 13 Astrophysical Discourse and Persuasion
- Part III The Cost of Discerning the True Universe
- Epilogue
- Appendix: Symbols, Glossary, Units and Their Ranges
- Index
- References
Summary
In earlier chapters, I noted that the acceptance of new scientific views was usually determined by a loosely defined leadership, which Ludwik Fleck had called the community's thought collective. A clearer picture of how this acceptance comes about has gradually emerged through an improved understanding of the ebb and flow of influence within the scientific community. When the weight of mounting influence triggers a cascade, widespread acceptance becomes inevitable. Once set in motion, however, cascades are almost impossible to control; misinformation can spread as readily as more reliably documented data. High priority thus needs to be assigned to containing the spread of error.
Transforming Belief
The inflationary theory of cosmology envisioned by Alan Guth, and extended most persistently by Andrei Linde, proposed that at the birth of time the Universe comprised a high-density vacuum permeated by chaotic fluctuations on all scales. Almost at once, the vacuum explosively expanded at a rate that exponentially increased. During this inflationary phase, which may have lasted no more than 10-33 seconds, distances across the Universe separating individual fluctuations dramatically increased by factors of order ˜3 × 1027 or more. This left the fluctuations isolated, able to seed the formation of clumps of radiation and matter as the inflationary phase subsided.
This astonishing theory was widely adopted almost as soon as it was proposed. It accounted for the homogeneous and isotropic appearance of the Universe; explained why space is seemingly flat, meaning that light propagates along straight lines rather than curved paths as it traverses the Universe; and also suggested why the Cosmos appeared to be devoid of magnetic monopoles.
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- Information
- In Search of the True UniverseThe Tools, Shaping, and Cost of Cosmological Thought, pp. 256 - 289Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013