Infinity again

Sorry about this, but I am still trying to get my head around infinity. As I stated in a recent posting, I have come to the conclusion that the universe has to be infinite. However, there is a twist to this when considering the beginning, namely the "Big Bang"; the moment it all sprang into being (I was tempted to use the word "creation" for a moment there, but decided against it in case anyone thought I was a religious nutter "creationist", the moment in which in the eyes of the more switched on reader I lose all credibility!!!!!). It is this. I stated that the distance between two objects can only ever be finite, then if we except that the universe started very small, and then expanded to its current infinite size, then it cannot be infinite, because it takes an infinite amount of time to reach an infinite size. However, I also stated that because the universe itself is everything there is (in this universe at least) including time and space, there can be no boundaries as beyond the universe there is not even nothing, and you cannot have a boundary with something which is so nothing it isn't even that!

Are you still awake? Good, then I'll continue........

My logic now leads me to conclude that although you often read that the universe was incredibly small (the "cosmic atom") at the moment of the Big Bang, for the reasons I have already stated, it still had to be infinite! Scientists talk about a period of mind blowingly rapid expansion called "inflation" which proceeded at an even faster rate than prices go up in our wonderful economy. Could it be that it was this "inflation" that brought time and space into being, and that before that in the quantum phase state of the universe space and time did not exist? During this "inflation" I can only conclude that at that instant (no time at all) the expansion of the universe began but within an infinite frame of reference. So what has been changing since then? Well, clearly not the the size of the universe as "the infinite" is infinite. I conclude that what changed was the density of the universe as everything spread out.

From whence did this spreading out proceed? Well actually, scientists say there is no central point in the universe from where it is spreading, but is actually spreading from all points in all directions. For this reason, no matter where you are in the universe, the rest of the universe will always appear to be moving away from you more or less equally in all directions, and your view of the universe will be more or less similar to our own at all observable distances. Now apply a little imagination to this scenario, it becomes apparent (to me, at least) that for this to be the case, then the universe has to be infinite. Think about it.  Also, with entropy, the universe began its eventual "wind-down" to its eventual demise where all its energy has been expended and darkness rules the face of the deep.

Time after Time

Thirty eight years ago, following a tour of a lifetime with the RAF in Singapore and finding myself on leave – and bored - in my home town of Potters Bar, I was lost for something to do. The solution, I decided, was to arm myself with my trusty Pentax Spotmatic camera, get on my bike and carry out a photographic survey of the town and it's environs.

Now, photography is a magical tool because it gives us a means of making direct comparisons of places over the passing of time. Whenever a photograph is taken, a recording of an instant of time is laid down, not just an image. Thus, since the invention of photography in the early nineteenth century, we have the most valuable tool imaginable, short of a time machine, for going back and seeing what things were like in times past. I have often thought how different things would have been if photography had been invented a couple of thousand years ago – or more. How different our perceptions of the past would be! Instead of “artists impressions” and archaeologists’’ reconstructions we would be able to see the real thing in all its authentic detail. Many things which are a mystery now, would instead be as clear as day.

When I was riding about on my bike and taking those seemingly mundane photographs all those years ago, I never dreamed of how fascinating I would find those same shots in later life, not to mention the part of the jigsaw of the history of the town they would become. Things which I had long forgotten were suddenly thrust back into sharp relief. Green fields where cows once grazed near my childhood home are now a housing estate. The junior school, so much a part of my formative years has disappeared in the wake of yet another housing development. The shops I once frequented have changed ownership – or closed down altogether. My favourite pub is now replaced by luxury flats. Ford Cortinas have been replaced by Ford Focuses. Even so, many things are still there now as they were then. Give it another thirty eight years…..

Making a record of the familiar places of today, can be a very satisfying and constructive thing to do. As well as getting out and about in the fresh air, it forces one to take that little bit more interest in the world about you. Your view the world alters in that the all too familiar takes on a new perspective. You become more conscious of the changes going on in the environment over time. Once a building is knocked down, it is gone forever. If for this reason alone, it makes sense to photograph it for posterity and the enrichment of future generations.

The photos shown here depict Potters Bar station as it was in 1971, and how it is today. Spot the difference.