ABOVE: Immunofluorescent Light Micrograph of neuron cells and astrocytes in mammalian spinal cord, Credit: Nancy Kedersha/UCLA/Photo Researchers, Inc.
RIGHT: The Overwhelmingly Large (OWL) telescope is proposed by the European Southern Observatory as a concept for the next generation of ground-based Extremely Large Telescopes, Image courtesy of the European Southern Observatory.
There is probably no scientist in the 20th century who pondered questions of ultimate reality more deeply than physicist John Archibald Wheeler, who brought quantum mechanics from Europe to the first generation of American physicists. Wheeler is known for his speculative imagination and willingness to go far outside the box in the quest for ultimate explanations. His colorful expression “It from Bit” encapsulates his richest speculation, namely that the world, which he has nicknamed “It” somehow arises from a primordial substrate of information or what the computer scientists have nicknamed “Bit.”
It was thus fitting that Wheeler was celebrated in a major conference sponsored by the Foundation in Princeton in March 2002. Appropriately, the conference was chaired by Freeman Dyson, also known for his imaginative approach to physics. The conference titled Science & Ultimate Reality: Celebrating the Vision of John Archibald Wheeler and Taking It Forward into a New Century of Discovery gathered a “Who’s Who” of major scientific and cultural figures for a rich weekend exploring the boundaries of physics. Participants included Anton Zeilinger, Wojciech Zurek, Bryce DeWitt, Max Tegmark, Charles Townes, Andreas Albrecht, Andrei Linde, Joao Magueijo, Stuart Kauffman, Lisa Randall, Lee Smolin, Owen Gingerich, Marcelo Gleiser and a host of others. There were heated exchanges on everything from quantum gravity to the anthropic principle.
Jaroslav Pelikan, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University and one of the great humanities scholars of our time, concluded with "The Heritage of Heraclitus: John Archibald Wheeler and the Itch to Speculate."
The speculations of Wheeler and others that there are undiscovered “information-generating” processes in nature is currently a hot topic in science. Wheeler was most interested in how such processes might create “something from nothing” but the same question arises at higher levels. Somehow the laws of nature give rise to rich complex structures like cells. Recent advances in science have made it possible to begin thinking about how this occurs. The buzzword for this new field is Emergence, the topic of another symposium held in Granada, Spain, also sponsored by the Foundation in the summer of 2002. Chaired again by Paul Davies, leading scholars like Rodney Brooks, John David Chalmers and George Ellis convened to consider just how it is that complex things “emerge” in nature. Even the simplest living cell is far too complex to be the result of a chance assemblage of atoms, coming together in just the right way. Somehow there are “pattern generating” mechanisms that assist in the process by which atoms and molecules form cells. But what are these mechanisms? Are they also fine- tuned for life? And what is their nature? Where did they come from? Are they chance features of one of many universes? Are they the “fingerprints of God,” pointing toward a purposeful intelligence behind the mystery of our existence?
begin thinking about how this occurs. The buzzword for this new field is Emergence, the topic of another symposium held in Granada, Spain, also sponsored by the Foundation in the summer of 2002. Chaired again by Paul Davies, leading scholars like Rodney Brooks, John David Chalmers and George Ellis convened to consider just how it is that complex things “emerge” in nature. Even the simplest living cell is far too complex to be the result of a chance assemblage of atoms, coming together in just the right way. Somehow there are “pattern generating” mechanisms that assist in the process by which atoms and molecules form cells. But what are these mechanisms? Are they also fine- tuned for life? And what is their nature? Where did they come from? Are they chance features of one of many universes? Are they the “fingerprints of God,” pointing toward a purposeful intelligence behind the mystery of our existence?