These two “small clouds” were, one, a vague result of the Michelson and Morley experiment, which failed to show a difference in the speed of light propagation in space, and the other, a problem posed by the so-called “black”. body “emitted by an object heated to a high temperature. Lord Kelvin believed that there was an anomaly in the details, as there was nothing new to be discovered in physics, after Newton’s universal gravity and Maxwell’s electromagnetism, only the measurements had to be revised.
From clouds to catastrophic storms
However… behind the first of these two clouds there was nothing less than the theory of relativity, behind the second quantum mechanics! Consider the two main theories on which twentieth-century physics was built. a century that radically changed our view of concepts as fundamental as time, space, matter or energy. This frequently cited joke may be the starting point for a new article by philosopher and astrophysicist Aurélien Barrau, devoted to just these small anomalies that sometimes make us jump from one model to another. More than a century after Lord Kelvin, the situation in this regard has not changed radically. Organized around “standard models” (particles for the infinitesimal, cosmology for the infinitesimal, etc.), modern physics also deals with its share of discrepancies. It also has two – or three or four… – “small clouds”, at least some of which (but which ones?) Will sooner or later explode into catastrophic storms, which supports our most solid theories. And Aurélien Barrau explains that this will always be the case… and warns us from the beginning, “Literally, all theories are wrong”!
cosmic anomaly
by Aurelien Barrau. Donod Publications, 192 pages, € 16.90 (September 7 edition). “Extremely charming problem solver. Lover of extreme television. Web Designer. The expert on bad beer. Nerd musician. Lover’s food. “
