As an outspoken opponent of racism and injustice and a proponent of liberal Christianity, Harry Emerson Fosdick delivered his famous sermon, "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?" on May 21, 1922 at the First Presbyterian Church NYC.
"Science treats a young man’s mind as though it were really important. A scientist says to a young man, 'Here is the universe challenging our investigation. Here are the truths which we have seen, so far. Come, study with us! See what we already have seen and then look further to see more, for science is an intellectual adventure for the truth.' Can you imagine any man who is worthwhile turning from that call to the church if the church seems to him to say, 'Come, and we will feed you opinions from a spoon. No thinking is allowed here except such as brings you to certain specified, predetermined conclusions. These prescribed opinions we will give you in advance of your thinking; now think, but only so as to reach these results.' "
Monday, November 17, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
God's architecture - Part IV
How many atoms are in the entire universe?
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
or, 1 sexvigintillion (1 followed by 81 zeros or 10^81)
Someone on the Internet did the math, well, kind of, I think making a few assumptions.
Atoms in the Universe
10^66 estimates the the number of atoms in our galaxy to be in the area of 10^68 and, if dark and exotic matter are considered, then their numbers are possibly close to 10^69.
In 10^9, it is stated that there is a wide range of estimates given for the number of galaxies in the universe. Some put the number in the very low 100 billions, others bring it much closer to the one trillion mark.
The size of other galaxies range from one million to hundreds of billions of stars. The mass of some of the largest galaxies is trillions of times the mass of our sun. Again, it is supposed that much of this mass consists of dark and exotic matter.
If we consider our galaxy to be of average size, and use the highest estimates for both the number of atoms in our galaxy and the total number of galaxies, then the universe would contain about one trillion times the number of atoms as our galaxy. Since our galaxy probably has no more than 10^69 atoms, this would mean that at most the universe contains 10^69 x 10^12 atoms in all. This works out to be just under 10^81.
If we use lower estimates for the number of atoms in our galaxy and total number of galaxies, then the total number of atoms would be as much as 20 times less, or within the area of 10^79.
Hence, "atoms in the universe" belongs on this page which spans from 10^78 to just under 10^81.
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
or, 1 sexvigintillion (1 followed by 81 zeros or 10^81)
Someone on the Internet did the math, well, kind of, I think making a few assumptions.
Atoms in the Universe
10^66 estimates the the number of atoms in our galaxy to be in the area of 10^68 and, if dark and exotic matter are considered, then their numbers are possibly close to 10^69.
In 10^9, it is stated that there is a wide range of estimates given for the number of galaxies in the universe. Some put the number in the very low 100 billions, others bring it much closer to the one trillion mark.
The size of other galaxies range from one million to hundreds of billions of stars. The mass of some of the largest galaxies is trillions of times the mass of our sun. Again, it is supposed that much of this mass consists of dark and exotic matter.
If we consider our galaxy to be of average size, and use the highest estimates for both the number of atoms in our galaxy and the total number of galaxies, then the universe would contain about one trillion times the number of atoms as our galaxy. Since our galaxy probably has no more than 10^69 atoms, this would mean that at most the universe contains 10^69 x 10^12 atoms in all. This works out to be just under 10^81.
If we use lower estimates for the number of atoms in our galaxy and total number of galaxies, then the total number of atoms would be as much as 20 times less, or within the area of 10^79.
Hence, "atoms in the universe" belongs on this page which spans from 10^78 to just under 10^81.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
God's architecture - Part III
How many atoms are in the human body?
7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
(give or take a few)
... okay, I'll say it, seven octillion.
7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
(give or take a few)
... okay, I'll say it, seven octillion.
God's architecture - Part II
If theologians would open their eyes (and minds!) to the countless revelations that science 'discovers' and realize that a revelation such as water is H2O and H2O is HOH and HOH is two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule which are chemical elements that are atoms and that these building blocks of wet reality are mind boggling truths that hint at the nature of God and how God creates, in that the Creation is not a haphazard mystery, but a knowable reality, if and only if one is willing to accept and collect truths as they are discovered, and include, not exclude them from the ongoing metaphor to describe the Unknown.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)