On Wednesday January 11th, 2012 Dr. Lawrence Krauss gave his first talk about his new book, A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing. The talk took place at the Ethical Humanist Society in Philadelphia and was co-sponsored by the Freethought Society. I was fortunate enough to attend the packed house event.
One of the central question of philosophy and theology has been, “Why is there something, rather than nothing?” Dr. Krauss explains that this isn’t a question of philosophy or theology, but rather that it is a question of science. He states that the purpose of his talk isn’t, “to bash a deity, because I don’t really care.” It is instead to seek to understand the universe.
During the hour and a half talk, Dr. Krauss took us on a brief journey into the history of humanity’s study of Cosmology. He focused a great deal on what Einstein and Hubble (among others) have helped us to learn about the nature of the universe, which is now estimated to be about 13.72 billion years old.
Over the last quarter of a century, our knowledge about the universe has changed dramatically. What we have discovered according to Krauss is that most of the mass of the universe is nothing:
“There is much to do about nothing because nothing is almost all there is.”
His book explores “nothing” and how science has found that there is actually quite a lot of something to nothing. From Dark Matter to stuff we have yet to identify, “nothing” is no longer the “nothing” we thought it was.
What we have learned about nothing has taught us about how the universe almost certainly came from nothing. No god or gods were needed. Apparently, from nothing, everything must come.
Dr. Lawrence Krauss concluded his talk by answering the main question. “Why is there something rather than nothing? There won’t be for very long.” He then said that the question itself is not really important. The more important questions are:
How did the universe evolve?
How do we find out?
Nothing has never been so interesting. The talk was informative, humorous, and fun. A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing by Dr. Lawrence Krauss is now available in bookstores and online. There are also some autographed books available through the Freethought Society for $30. Those interested can contact Margaret Downey at Margaret@FtSociety.org
Please check out the Atheism 101 Series for frequently asked topics.
If you enjoy this article, please share the link on facebook, twitter, google plus, reddit, and others. Be notified by e-mail about the latest articles by the National Atheist Examiner using the "Subscribe” button at the top of the page.
Comments