Physics as Pilgrimage

Gary E. Bowman; Gary E. Bowman

doi:10.3934/geosci.2016.4.391

AIMS Geosciences

2016, Volume 2, Issue 4: 391-400. doi: 10.3934/geosci.2016.4.391

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Opinion paper Special Issues

Physics as Pilgrimage

Gary E. Bowman ^,

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northern Arizona University, PO Box 6010, Flagstaff, AZ86011, USA

Received: 10 September 2016 Accepted: 16 November 2016 Published: 07 December 2016

Pilgrimage typically refers to a religious quest or journey. Can science ever be viewed as a sort of pilgrimage, even retaining some of the religious hallmarks thereof? Employing the views of Joseph Campbell, a widely-known religious thinker, and Albert Einstein, creator of the special and general theories of relativity, I so argue for the case of theoretical physics—the most basic and fundamental physical science. I then sketch the centuries-long (and still ongoing) development of physical ideas of space from Newton to Einstein. These ideas, while relatively accessible to non-physicists, are of the most profound physical significance, determining the large-scale behavior of not only Earth, but the cosmos itself. I argue how their development may, in consonance with Campbell and Einstein, be viewed as a sort of pilgrimage.
- pilgrimage,
- Albert Einstein,
- Joseph Campbell,
- cosmic religion,
- space,
- Newtonian mechanics,
- special relativity,
- general relativity
Citation: Gary E. Bowman. Physics as Pilgrimage[J]. AIMS Geosciences, 2016, 2(4): 391-400. doi: 10.3934/geosci.2016.4.391

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Abstract

Pilgrimage typically refers to a religious quest or journey. Can science ever be viewed as a sort of pilgrimage, even retaining some of the religious hallmarks thereof? Employing the views of Joseph Campbell, a widely-known religious thinker, and Albert Einstein, creator of the special and general theories of relativity, I so argue for the case of theoretical physics—the most basic and fundamental physical science. I then sketch the centuries-long (and still ongoing) development of physical ideas of space from Newton to Einstein. These ideas, while relatively accessible to non-physicists, are of the most profound physical significance, determining the large-scale behavior of not only Earth, but the cosmos itself. I argue how their development may, in consonance with Campbell and Einstein, be viewed as a sort of pilgrimage.

References

[1]	Einstein A (1930) Religion and science. New York Times Magazine November 9: 1-4.
[2]	Bowman G (2014) Einstein and Mysticism. Zygon 49: 281-307. doi: 10.1111/zygo.12084
[3]	Campbell J (1971) The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, New York: Harper and Row, 11.
[4]	Campbell J (1971) The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, New York: Harper and Row, 21.
[5]	Campbell J (1971) The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, New York: Harper and Row, 18-19.
[6]	Campbell J (1971) The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, New York: Harper and Row, 31.
[7]	Campbell J (1971) The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, New York: Harper and Row, 43.
[8]	Smith G: Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. The Stanford Encyclopediaof Philosophy (Winter 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Available from:http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2008/entries/newton-principia/.
[9]	Misner C, Thorne K, and Wheeler J (1973) Gravitation San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 5.

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