"Heavenly Knowledge" by Dr. Fiorella Terenzi is an artistic and romantic look at the science and existence of the stars, planets and galaxies. This is in contrast to the cold, objective approach which dominates Western science. Terenzi is an astrophysicist who earned her doctorate degree at the University of Milan in Italy. She is also a singer, and is known for her work in translating radio waves, emitted by galaxies, into sound and musical compositions. Included in her extensive teaching experiences is her position as a physics and astronomy professor at Brevard Community College in Cocoa, Florida.
This book was published in 1998, but I'm glad that I waited until now to read it, as I think I will have a deeper appreciation for it (or will be able to put it in a better perspective).
It seems that some theoretical physicists believe that there is a limit to what science can tell us, and that the deepest questions on why and how we exist go beyond empirical data. One of the weaknesses of science is that "facts" are always based on certain premises first being accepted as "true", and often these reliable premises turn out to have flaws in them. For example, quantum mechanics revealed that Newton's Laws of Motion are not the sole, pervasive governing force they were once believed to be, and Einstein's General Theory of Relativity cast a once unthinkable doubt on an aspect of Euclidian geometry, which had not considered that space is curved by gravity (the totality of Euclidian geometry now being considered effectively "true" only when utilized by the human senses, but not in absolute terms).
Also in science, we see that every "answer" leads to only more questions, and I suppose that this trend won't end soon, if ever. I know, Stephen Hawking has declared that perhaps the "end" of theoretical physics is in sight, that perhaps every question that can be asked will be answered. He also proposed that thanks to quantum mechanics, the universe was indeed capable of creating itself out of nothing, that no intelligent creator was required. But surely even these theories are based simply on our current understanding of quantum mechanics, and our understanding, as always, is ripe to be challenged! Do we know everything that there is to know regarding the Uncertainty Principle, one of the pillars of quantum mechanics? I doubt it. Just the name "Uncertainty Principle" gives me a very queasy feeling. As the physicist Paul Davies pointed out, any change to our understanding of this principle could shake quantum theory to the core. We never are totally sure about anything, and this could be a flaw in human science.
This is not to say that science is useless, only that it has its limits (although perhaps these limits are simply of human understanding). Anyway, Terenzi's book could I suppose, provide either supplementary information, or an altogether different take on how we should perceive the cosmos. Should be interesting! I'll write more later regarding this.
