by more than 100 years. Hanson even gives a simple derivation
of the formula. Beyond that, he shows that much of the formulae
used by relativity to explain phenomena at speeds close to that of light
are derived on the assumption that the speeds are very much less than the
speed of light. This has consequences in creationist circles for such
works as Russell Humphries' work that only six days elapsed on earth
while the distant universe experienced billions of years.
Infinite numbers and science
Dr. John Byl also contributed an article to this issue of the Biblical
Astronomer. He looks at the question of transfinite (infinite) numbers
and its relation to cosmology. He points out that many of the problems in
modern physics, which problems involve infinite quantities, stem from
paradoxes of self reference. Lest the reader think that this has nothing to
do with the day-to-day reality of his life, consider some common
paradoxes of self-reference (here the paradoxical statement is in quotes
and the illustrator or answer follows in plain text):
• “There are no absolutes!” — Absolutely, right?
• “There are only points of view on an issue, and none is the
point of view!” — One thing's for sure, the view that says there
is no the point of view on an issue cannot itself be the point of
view.
A home page on the Internet
Work has started on the construction of a home page on the Internet.
Some of the key position papers will be posted there and eventually we
hope to present some video clips and some audio, too. One of the first
papers to be posted will be the firmament paper presented at the Sixth
European Creationist Congress last August. The biggest drawbacks involve
incorporating the equations (an Adobe PDF file creator is way too
expensive and time consuming to learn), but we'll scan them in as JPEG
files. We are also looking for illustrations to grace the pages and to keep
the site from dying with boredom. The site will be shared by college students,
but you can find it at http://baldwinw.edu/~gbouw. An E-mail address
is provided there, as well as a picture of yours truly. If you can help
in the site construction, we would appreciate it very much.
SOLUTION TO LAST ISSUE'S PUZZLE
In a study done about 10 years ago, more than 20% of the scientists to
whom the puzzle was presented said that it was impossible. The rest
solved it in anywhere from no time to 20 minutes. Here is the statement
of the puzzle:
Draw three boxes in a row flush along the bottom of a sheet of paper. Label these from
left to right as “A,” “B,” and “C. Above that row of boxes draw another row of three
boxes and label these three boxes from left to right as “C,” “B,” and “A.” Is it possible
to draw lines connecting the bottom boxes with the correspondingly labeled top boxes
without the lines crossing each other?
Solution: No one said the upper boxes had to be along the top of the
page. At least one of the lines will come in from its bottom box and connect
to the top of its corresponding upper box.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1
Highfield, Roger and Paul Carter, 1994. The Private Lives of Albert
Einstein, (St. Martin's Press).