3 ms·
The linked article is an article written by Asimov. The main idea is an allegory about how even though the Earth isn't flat, and the Earth isn't spherical, it i
by mixedmath 8y ago
The linked article is an article written by Asimov. The main idea is an allegory about how even though the Earth isn't flat, and the Earth isn't spherical, it is less wrong to say that the Earth is a sphere than to say that it is flat. The point it that it is exciting to be alive now, in a time when physics is becoming so much more "right" about so many things so quickly.
Although I'm not sure if it exists, I would enjoy a brief description of ways in which physics is more "right" now than in 1989, when this was written.
- vilhelm_s 8y agoSpecifically, he says the key period was 1900-1930. I guess something like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_scientific_discoveries#20th_century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_scientific_discove... can be helpful, but I think none of the discoveries in the last 30 years are quite as world-changing as general relativity, atoms, quantum physics, or galaxies.
- pmwhite 8y agoPlate tectonics is a candidate to go on that list, and it was controversial until good undersea maps were available circa 1970. That is 50 years ago, not 30.
- antidesitter 8y agoThe discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe (1998) is a pretty big one.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]