Literature-Storytelling

QUESTIONS ON IMPEY

1 . Impey uses God ' to mean a body of organizing principles applying to the universe

2 . Scientific reductionism simplifies explanations of complex phenomena . Asimov , an evolutionist , takes a more reductionist point of view than Jastrow (a creationist , who argues that more complex incomprehensible forces are at work

3 . Power laws ' govern systems in which one quantity depends on another raised to an exponent . Impey cites the strength of quasar-light variations , solar flares ' strengths , and the universe 's large-scale structure . Its implications include giving structure and coherence to

br seemingly random events and shows cooperative phenomena in action

4 . Entropy ' is the possible number of microscopic states of a system and leads to dis . However , patterns can emerge from chaos , and these can create harmonies with aesthetic value

5 . Impey believes mathematics are discovered , since they underlie the universe 's principles of . He uses the Mandelbrot set and the Pythagorean Theorem as examples they already existed in nature but had to be figured out

6 . Impey sees science as the creation of from chaos , with mathematics at its heart , and as the search for patterns in nature

7 . The big bang was itself an example of symmetry , because as the universe expanded , its symmetry was unbalanced but also corrected by gravity , keeping radiation from dominating and matter and antimatter to destroy one another

8 . The twenty questions ' analogy is an example of how reality is constructed . The individual questions asked help shape the answers and our perceptions reality does not exist independently of our inquiries and understandings

QUESTIONS ON DANIELSON

9 . The Copernican clichy ' says that Copernicus ' assertions were so shattering an intellectual revolution that pitted religion against science and rendered humanity less important in the universal scheme of things . It has become such a common and widely-accepted notion that it has become a clichy , repeated as fact despite the interpretation 's errors

10 . Danielson claims the clichy is incorrect because humanity was already considered lowly , so Copernicus did not humble the earth or its inhabitants or deny God 's role in the universe . Instead , he claims , the earth was now included as part of the universe . Copernicus ' theory drew the church 's ire because it claimed the earth was in motion , thus contradicting Scripture

11 . Danielson argues about this because he finds the clichyd historical interpretation incorrect and makes the wrong assumptions , overlooking exactly why Copernicus ' contemporaries and adversaries disagreed with him . He claims that Enlightenment-era satirists created the view now commonly accepted . At stake for Danielson is the truth suggested by the evidence , as well as the fact that accepting the clichy obscures understanding of new scientific discoveries

12 . Danielson uses these examples to show that the earth 's relative smallness does not diminish its importance . The analogies illustrate the point but seem trite more familiar historical or cultural examples would be stronger and more tangible

13 . The sense of beauty ' may exist only on humans ' imagination , but the human imagination is very much a...