Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Thursday, June 15


“Only time will forever remain to bear our memories when we’re all gone”

Imagine a band of brothers, a group of rag tag scientists, who march bravely into a mystifying future, grasping knowledge understood only by a few but ultimately describes the dynamics of the universe, and then imagine them to be real. Life has always been a journey of discovery and enlightenment. To know what tomorrow is made up and to value what yesterday taught us is the definite goal of physicists. This small group of friends forever locked in a love hate relationship to answer and reveal the mind of God. And behind them, guiding them and also leading them are a few special personalities, whose character and determination solidly puts them as the greatest ever to walk the earth. This is the story of how this few scientists have peered deeper into the universe as none before and how it affected our lives forever.

The beauty of the night sky is more than that of the twinkling stars scattered, entwined on that canvas; it holds answers and tells stories of moments in our existence. It’s an open invitation for us to observe and explore. The decades of the 20th century heralded a cultural flare-up that threw open the doors of science and humanity to yet again mingle in ways never before imagined. The unstoppable march of information exchange managed to highlight the lives and passion of scientists on their journey to the edge of the universe. It can be viewed as a new beginning, a chance that we humans were given as being a part of the universe to explain and discover our existence. Behind this amazing awareness stood giants who in turn still, stood on the shoulders of their forefathers. They are the ultimate visionaries who choose to do what they thought would be the unmasking of the mysteries of the cosmos. In a world under intense conflict, these people stood as beacons providing paths to the ones whose were determined to lead a lonely life and carry their lonely hearts in turning science into a culture and a religion.

What significance does this revolution have? These are the people and scientist that not many know, or listen to. They seem to be working in the shadows of greater Gods. To believe in something and to achieve its full potentials has always been a struggle between truth and false. The Gods of science such as Newton and Einstein bridged these far extremes and discovered new realms that made it possible for us to ascertain that there is no truth or false but ultimately only reality and non-existence.

Einstein probably was the first ever science superstar. If we look at it from the modern perspective of media, then he’s the first to actually receive much wanted mass media attention and made his diligent followers appreciate the works of physicist and scientist at large. Before him many more legends played equal parts in discovering the very basic pillars of science but rarely became popular cult figures. What Einstein provided was an outlook of genuine interest, a savant of physics, its goals he approached single mindedly, and to the rest of the world, that proved to be a vision of a genius scientist. He worked on ideas discovered by others such as Maxwell and Newton in bringing the universe to us and showing us that we are connected to it in many ways. Never before did humanity feel more comfortable with the infinities of cosmological ideas and also the vastness of the universe with its astrophysical phenomenon’s. When it mattered most and when we direly needed a breakthrough that would lead us confidently into the future, Einstein was there to lead us. Years later after his discoveries and when his master class touch still worked miracles in the fields of science and cosmology, he became the relentless warrior against the very weapon his theories gave birth too. His famous letters to the president to stop the handling of nuclear weapons presented an inspiring character that encompassed so much more than physics. No one can explain why Einstein still adore the rooms of millions of students around the world, maybe its his eccentric looks, but many can indeed understand that he discovered the holy grail of science that seeded the works of millions to come.

On the 300th anniversary of the death of Galileo Galilee, Stephen Hawking was born. By that time, the popularity of Einstein overshadowed nearly all other scientists and the world was at war. And science did not stop for war. Hawking is a living legend, commanding the attention that was once given to Einstein himself. In the science-biography of Stephen Hawking, A Life in Science, we get to learn of a scientific genius that rivaled Einstein in the cosmological front. Growing up he listened to classical music, read science books and did everything against the norms of the days (rock n roll was making waves back then). He was the eccentric figure among his close band of friends, both displaying an affinity towards inventing stuff, the occasional philosophical burst and also looked far into the future. He loved to engage in religious conversations with everyone who showed interest and often left them shocked as he will display later in life an image of intense atheist. In his early 20’s he was diagnosed with a motor neuron disease, ALS or the Lou Gehrig’s disease. The initial clumsiness in movements ultimately made him paralyzed and wheel chaired for the rest of his life. In an interesting twist of events, he was at that time studying theoretical physics and that would not need much movement at all. He overcame the initial depression of which would continue to haunt him from time to time, but amazingly still he faced the world with a new determination that would change the landscape of cosmology forever. The world silently started to learn of this genius scientist who lectured important scientific works from his wheelchair and in the 80’s his fame reached new heights with the release of his bestseller ‘A Brief History Of Time’. For Hawking, nothing in the world mattered more that to preach what the world needs rather than what it wants. He knew what was important back then, and he did everything exactly his way. He had many critics, a colorful life marred with disease, shortcomings and divorce, but he also taught us how to live. Towards the end of the book A Life in Science, there is a philosophy from Hawking that remains true for all of us. To all his critics and fans alike he said “One has to be grown up enough to realize that life is not fair. You have to the best you can in the situation you are.”

Science has always been the communication of ideas, the sharing of experiences and inspiring lives. This is the path less taken, the journey into the unknown for some of us. Devotion to science and to find the illusive answers matters more than anything else. It will be hard to make people understand our lives, but taking the time to understand it will be the most important tasks any of us would ever take. As I began that journey years ago, I did not realize the complete dynamics of a life in science. But lucky for me I did have the past Gods, the giants of a lonely era who painstakingly walked a new path and left it open for me. I’m not alone in this hard journey into the future, but I choose to build on this pillars, the ideas of science that helped us for better or worst to progress into this future. I’m as eager as anyone else to usher in that new future, a future full of technological inventions and peaceful ambitions, but at the same time I had this chance to understand that not everyone is meant to ride easy into it. The dawn of the 21st century also signaled the end of ages of legends. As I said before Stephen Hawking could be the only remaining star of science. Before him, the legacies of Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Chandra and Feynman inspired generations to love science. Who do we have today?

More than being a scientist, the giants of science were also one of us. They went through life like any of us, faced problems, walls along their journey that would have turned many of us away. But they carried on, and it serves as an inspiration to us. There were many more that did climb the walls but fell of peer pressure and the scrutiny of the political world who doesn’t understand science anymore. It’s true that Einstein or Hawking did not steer billions in public money to build grand experiments, but the reality of this world is that we do need those experiments. More that ever do we need this as an inspiration for the present generation and generations to come to ensure that humanity can survive. When we stood to justify the fallacies of politics, the world war against invisible tyrants, we had not the heart to stand and support science. This is the state of the 21st century science.

What the Sputnik and Apollo generation struggled hard to build and in turn inspired millions of hero’s and heroines to continue their aspirations lay in an uncertain future. We live at a time when the next astronaut would probably remain in office rather than fly to space; we don’t have anyone to continue the dream of Kalpana Chawla and the fallen comrades who risked their lives for us. We continue to tap away into the Internet without appreciating the very people who made all this possible. We’re so obsessed with pop cult figures and business men who sell soft wares rather than the creators of microchips. When did you last stop to learn of the lives of scientists and the less know women scientist. We build this cage where the only superstars were male when women played an equal part in the new age science revolution. The books did justice to them, but humanity did not. We stand to loose everything today, something we can never regain. Our roles are clear, we learned from the best, had the best teachers, and now it’s our turn. We need to answer the cosmiccode, and to build a bright future for everyone we need a new generation of scientists and science superstars alike.

Only when men shall roll up space like a piece of leather,
will there be an end of sorrow apart from knowing god…
-Svetasvatara Upanishad*

[*] From the book ‘Lonely Hearts Of The Cosmos' by Dennis Overby.

[+] Stephen Hawking, A Life In Science by Michael White and John Gribbin is an amazing adventure peering deep into the man and myth, Dr. Stephen Hawking. It’s an interesting and fun read that would inspire all of us and most importantly tells the story of a human and a star scientist who faced destiny and walked on.

posted by gP
4:09 AM

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Science, As The Candle In The Dark, (I)

Thursday, May 25


//This series of articles will explore the morals of science and the needs for science in an age rapidly moving in a direction of uncertainty and revelation.

The basic tenets of modern civilization relies heavily on technological innovation that is preceded by science. Science remains as the sole basis for technology. A technologically dependent society, can't therefore push science and the needs of learning science into obscurity and at the same time demand quick solutions in any field and faculty. A relevant hypothesis that can be forwarded into this society is that the need of the people remains unmatched by the unraveling of new technology, hence new science because of a rapidly declining pace of discovery.

We live in an age where science does not play an inspirational role in our lives, rather continue to struggle with religious fundamentalism, shady politics and lackluster funding where the need to achieve a goal is overshadowed by the demand for commercialism. What the scientific fraternity experienced a few hundred years since Newton, where science and discovery seemed to free flow through the masses, where thousands of years ago science was a 'metaphysical' journey in the great dawn of civilization is today a race towards temporary success and media fuss. Media was late in the past century, science came first; but today media scoops science and leaves the 'end' of any research for the laymen to 'finish'.

The certainty of scientists such as Einstein and Feynman is that they are doing the unraveling before anything else. They had the upper hand in constructing patiently, precise quantitative and qualitative frameworks that would encompass fully the line of research so that when it does reach out, it will provide the solutions needed when it is needed most. The dawn of the computer age, supposedly the golden age for science is that more data could be processed to provide a wider framework, but hesitant is the science that a wider rage doesn't mean better solutions. What exactly happened is that we managed to successfully drown the world in redundant floods of data and subjects that doesn't cross boundaries to help anyone, but distance everyone from science itself.

The sole candle in the dark is not the guiding light that we hoped it would be. The giants in the likes of Feynman and Gell-Mann, managed to inspire a short generation the most, and then forgotten in the names of artificial Gods who holds the keys to doors locked for the true scientists. Why did we let such events to take place that would isolate humanity, and refract science to such a level that the struggle for money supersedes everything else. What is the exact mechanisms that turned science into a turbulent world where pseudoism and violent martyr grab the attention more that anyone else.

The fight for truth starts within the ones who wants to see a future of scientific glory. A future where everyone who wishes a world of peace and freedom crosses the political boundary to achieve something everyone could live in and live with.

The goals of the CosmicCode Institute and project is to highlight science, to give science it's deserved place in the world and to inspire a generation more to understand the needs for this revelation. The actions and the solutions that we provide will be charted in the invisible mirrors of the universe that in the future will reflect a direction that took us the right way, that is, a way to a scientific future.

End of Part I

-gp-2006-

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posted by gP
11:53 AM

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The CosmicCode Institute Blog

Friday, April 7


Hello all,

This is the official blog of the CosmicCode Institute.

This blog will blog about the latest developments in the field of science, technology and the future of earth and humanity.

This blog will be maintained and updated by the moderators of the CosmicCode Institute Yahoo! Group.

Anyone who has genuine interest in science, technology, computers and internet technology, popular science developments and publications, writing science stories, futurism studies, and the general world of blogging and want to be a part of the CosmicCode blog team, please email:
cosmicinstitute@gmail.com.

May You Live In Interesting Times.

Thank you,
-Gp-


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posted by Anonymous
3:37 AM

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