Nexus - 1105 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

AN INTRODUCTION TO GLOBAL SCALING THEORY AN INTRODUCTION TO A Scientific Gold Mine labour-divided, mega-industrial scientific GLOBAL SCALING THEORY The scientific division of labour according community. by Dr Hartmut Miller © 2004 to the example of large-scale industries also The first indication of the existence of this had its positive consequences ("Nothing is _ scientific goldmine came from biology. As ature continues to amaze us with an _ so bad that it wouldn't be useful", as an old a result of 12 years of research, Cislenko New infinite variety of phenom- Russian saying goes). published his Structure of Fauna and Flora ena. Man has been searching for The physical compatibility of completely with Regard to Body Size of Organisms centuries to find the principle that "holds the — different mathematical models made it nec- | (Moscow, 1980). His work documents what world inside together". Today we are closer essary to bring precision of physical mea- is probably the most important biological to the solution of this puzzle than ever surements to unprecedented heights. discovery in the 20th century. Cislenko was before. Over decades a priceless, colossal able to prove that segments of increased database was accumulated. It contains the species representation are repeated on the The "Sacrament" of Physical spectral lines of atoms and molecules, the logarithmic line of body sizes in equal Measuring masses of the elementary particles and _ intervals (approx. 0.5 units of the decadic From the time of Galileo and Newton we atomic nuclei, atomic radii, dimensions, _ logarithm). ave known and studied properties that are distances, masses and periods of revolution The phenomenon is not explicable from a common to all material phenomena: space, of the planets, moons and asteroids, the biological point of view. Why should time and motion. These are physical physical characteristics of stars and galaxies, mature individuals of amphibians, reptiles, properties, which explains why physics and much more. fish, birds and mammals of different species olds a fundamental position among all of The need for measurements of the high- find it similarly advantageous to have a the natural sciences. est precision promoted the development of body size in the range of 8-12 centimetres, Till the end of the 20th century, physics | mathematical statistics which, in turn, made 33-55 centimetres or 1.5—2.4 metres? dealt with the exploration of quantitative it possible to include precise morphological Cislenko assumed that competition in the relationships between these fundamental and sociological data as well as data from __ plant and animal kingdoms occurs not only roperties and their derivatives. Inthe cen- evolutionary biology. Ranging from ele- _ for food, water and other resources, but also tre of its epistemological paradigm was mentary particles to galactic clusters, this _ for the best body sizes. Each species tries to physical measuring, becoming something _ scientific database extends over at least 55 occupy the advantageous intervals on the ike the "sacrament" of scientific production. _ orders of magnitude. logarithmic scale, where mutual pressure of At the same time, this paradigm brought Yet, despite its tremendous cosmological competition also gives rise to "crash zones". about the end of the ancient student-master significance, this database did not become However, Cislenko was not able to explain relationship between natural sciences and __ the object of an integrated (holistic) scientific why both the crash zones and the overpopu- mathematics. In the academic enterprise of _ investigation until 1982. The treasure lying _ lated intervals on the logarithmic line are today, the mathematician only develops the at their feet was not seen by members of the always of the same length and occur at equa models. It is the physicist (chemist, biolo- gist, geologist) who decides which of the Some Natural Physical Standard Measures models matches the measurements and gets Name Symbol Formula | applied. As a result of this division of Test mass Mp measurement £ labour, mathematics became more and more of the proton 998,272 MeVic* "instrumentalised" and hence isolated from speed of light fa measurement | 299792458 més its intellectual source—the natural sciences. Compton dp= Ai Qree-mp) And so it was that physics itself was wavelength dy (h=Planck’s 2,10309-10'" m demoted to a mere interpreter of models and f the prot Constant ideas that got completely out of touch with 2 ee — ) +] " 8 pietely natural frequency iy Azcl dy 1425486910" Hz reality—and this to an ever greater extent. Today, to calculate a modern physical model of the proton "up to last digit" and verify it by measure- black temperature 7 Th ~ tp . - ment is possible only for the most simplified of the proton P (k=Bolzmann’s 1,0888-10"° K BI ap cases. Constant) Physical laws have degenerated to complete angle 25 circumference/radius 62831853 nothing more than hair-splitting; physical unit of quantity = 1 1 | iS facts independent of a model they describe Table 1 hardly exist anymore. 2,10309-10"° m 0888-10" K Table 1 NEXUS * 49 A Scientific Gold Mine by Dr Hartmut Miller © 2004 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2004 www.nexusmagazine.com