Why is it dark at night?
Now I know what you'll say. The sun isn't there and gets replaced by a less bright rock (i.e moon) that just reflects the sun's light. But the more I think about it the less it makes sense. The sun is HUGE. Way bigger than Earth. Other stars that we see are also huge, some far bigger than our sun. How is it that it's so dark merely because the Earth has flipped to the other side?
And then I read this:
“If the Universe is infinite and contains an infinite number of stars, then any direction we look should point to a star. Therefore the sky should be as bright as the surface of the Sun both day and night. Since it’s not, the Universe must not contain an infinite number of stars and therefore, the Universe must be finite.” - Olbers.
How amazing that from a seemingly obvious observation such a profound conclusion can be reached.
That is science. It's not just doing the brunt work and getting the data. It's the analysis that comes at the end of all that. What's the bigger picture from all those little bits?
Although the idea here is good Olbers' premise was actually incorrect. But that's science. Take an observation, propose a hypothesis and TEST it. The reason it's not quite right has to do with the idea of infinite sets such as the one in Hilbert's Paradox of the Grand Hotel.
Now I know what you'll say. The sun isn't there and gets replaced by a less bright rock (i.e moon) that just reflects the sun's light. But the more I think about it the less it makes sense. The sun is HUGE. Way bigger than Earth. Other stars that we see are also huge, some far bigger than our sun. How is it that it's so dark merely because the Earth has flipped to the other side?
And then I read this:
“If the Universe is infinite and contains an infinite number of stars, then any direction we look should point to a star. Therefore the sky should be as bright as the surface of the Sun both day and night. Since it’s not, the Universe must not contain an infinite number of stars and therefore, the Universe must be finite.” - Olbers.
How amazing that from a seemingly obvious observation such a profound conclusion can be reached.
That is science. It's not just doing the brunt work and getting the data. It's the analysis that comes at the end of all that. What's the bigger picture from all those little bits?
Although the idea here is good Olbers' premise was actually incorrect. But that's science. Take an observation, propose a hypothesis and TEST it. The reason it's not quite right has to do with the idea of infinite sets such as the one in Hilbert's Paradox of the Grand Hotel.
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