Balloons

Balloons…

They expand and contract.

As air is blown into the rubber hole, the surface of the balloon stretches. As air leaves the balloon through the same hole, a vacuum is created which causes the balloon’s stretchy surface to contract in on itself.

You’re probably thinking, “Duh… Yes. I know how a balloon works, idiot. Why did I click on this link just to have someone spoon feed me a how-to for blowing up balloons?” 

Well… sorry to disappoint, but this blog isn’t really about blowing up balloons.

It’s about our universe!

Much like a balloon, the universe that we inhabit behaves in a similar way.

Before the twentieth century, the general climate of thought regarding the universe was that it had existed forever in an unchanging state (static) or that it had been created at a finite time in the past more or less as we observe it today.

That’s old news though… We now realize the universe isn’t static. (Can you believe those old farts actually thought that?)

If the universe isn’t static, this begs the question: “then where did the universe come from?”

If everything began at one single point in history, then time itself is meaningless prior to the universe’s beginning. St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.) pointed this out when he argued that time was a property of the universe that God created, and that time didn't exist before the beginning of the universe.

When people believed in an essentially static and unchanging universe, the question of whether or not it had a beginning was really just one of metaphysics or theology. 

Someone could account for what was observed equally well on the theory that everything existed forever or that it was set in motion at a finite time in history to look as though it had existed forever.

Enter the Belgian priest Georges Lemaitre!

This priest and astrophysicist earned his place in the history books by proclaiming something that broke all the established rules: the universe was expanding and was born out of the explosion of a tiny point, which he called the “primeval atom.”

His view challenged the “static” understanding of the universe and was rejected in part because it was consistent with a universe created by God at the beginning of time.

But soon after, the field of physics would suffer a cataclysm that would eventually tip the scales in favor of the astronomer priest.

When World War I broke out, Lemaitre was studying civil engineering and eventually put his schooling on hold to serve as an artillery officer, where he witnessed some of the first toxic gas attacks.

The experiences he received during the war impacted him so much that he shifted gears, attended the University of Cambridge (studying cosmology, stellar physics and numerical analysis), and prepared for the priesthood.

He then returned to his country, found a place at the Catholic University of Leuven and continued investigating new implications of Einstein’s theory of relativity in the known universe.

In 1927 (at age 32), Lemaitre published the first study where he proposed that the universe was expanding. Written in French, it went unnoticed, and the few physicists who heard of it rejected it outright.

The idea of a stable universe, without a beginning, was so widespread that even Einstein included a hack (cosmological constant) in his theory of relativity that functioned as a negative force of gravity to prevent the universe from collapsing back on itself.

Luckily in 1929, Edwin Hubble made the landmark observation that wherever you look, distant galaxies are moving rapidly away from us. 

In other words, the universe is expanding. 

This means that at earlier times, objects would have been closer together. A LOT CLOSER!

In fact, it seemed that there was a time, about ten or twenty thousand million years ago, when they were all at exactly the same place.

George Lemaitre’s proposal couldn’t be ignored anymore! 

In 1933, after a chat with the priest, Einstein admitted that he was wrong in previously rejecting it and is said to have remarked, “This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explanation of the creation of the universe I’ve heard.”

This discovery (and the discovery of Microwave Background Radiation) finally brought the question of the beginning of the universe out of the realm of metaphysics/theology and into the realm of science.

Even though humans still ascribe a variety of language to it, (“Let there be light”, “cosmic egg”, or the Big Bang), the universe’s beginnings had been verified!

Not only was there a beginning to it, but the universe was observed to be rapidly expanding.

“So… why is the theme of this post ‘Balloons’?”

I’m glad you asked!

Essentially, our universe is expanding like a balloon. (*Insert eye-rolling*... here we go again)

Imagine a balloon with a bunch of spots painted on it being steadily blown up. Also, pretend those painted dots are all of the galaxies in the known universe.

As the balloon (universe) expands, the distance between any two spots (galaxies) increases, but there is no spot (galaxy) that can be said to be the center of the expansion (universe). And the farther apart the spots are, the faster they will be moving apart.

Basically, the speed at which two galaxies are moving apart is proportional to the distance between them.

When I learned this stuff years ago it seemed like my mind never stopped exploding. 

Revelation after revelation. 

Boom. Boom. BOOM!

It’s really humbling to be able to know some of the nitty gritty behind our universe’s workings. 

It fills me with awesome wonder and oftentimes I walk away from these thought exercises speechless... 

But, just think how much had to happen for you to be here… at this moment, sitting in front of a smart-phone or computer screen, reading, and comprehending this.

The gigabrillion (made up number) number of stellar explosions, the violent planetary accretion, the warm solar radiation at just the right temperatures to facilitate life, photosynthesis, and the unforgiving realities of evolution all led up to this moment. 

You… a product of the universe comprehending your place in the universe.

Tight, am I right?

...

Ok… you can get back to your true crime podcast or whatever.