Speaker: Chris Edwards
What if the great discoveries of science came in the "wrong" order? The laws of thermodynamics were discovered long after the creation of algebra and Newtonian physics. This flawed chronology has led to an out-of-order understanding of physics. AI will likely understand science in a "new order" that starts with the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
This talk is based upon a new book by Chris titled "The New Order: How AI Rewrites the Narrative of Science" published in April by Prometheus Press.
Dr. Chris Edwards teaches history, English, and mathematics at a public school in Indiana. He is a frequent contributor to Skeptic magazine and the author of numerous books with Rowman and Littlefield Education, Blue River Press, See Sharp Press, and Prometheus. For many years Chris was a recipient of generous Scientech Foundation grants, and he directed the Scientech Summer Institutes for STEM teachers, which is now Indiana's TIE-IN teacher education program.
Sponsored by Jeff Rasley
Program: The New Order: How AI Rewrites the Narrative of Science
Speaker: Chris Edwards, ED, teacher, writer, author and former Director of Scientech Summer Institutes for STEM teachers, now Indiana’s TIE-IN teacher education program
Introduced By: Jeff Rasley
Attendance: NESC: 83 ; Zoom: 29
Guest(s): Charlie Guthrie
Scribe: Benny Ko
Editor: Ed Nitka
View a Zoom recording of this talk at:
https://www.scientechclubvideos.org/zoom/06302025.mp4
Speaker Chris Edwards, EdD, is a Scientech member who teaches History, English, and Math at a public school in Indiana. He is a frequent contributor to Skeptic magazine and the author of numerous books. Chris was a recipient of Scientech Foundation grants, and he directed the Scientech Summer Institutes for STEM teachers, which is now Indiana's TIE-IN teacher education program.
What if the great discoveries of science came in the "wrong" order? The laws of thermodynamics were discovered long after the creation of algebra and Newtonian physics. This flawed chronology has led to an out-of-order understanding of physics. AI will likely understand science in a "new order" that starts with the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Science tends to compartmentalize. This often leads to contradictory understandings and the formulation of discordant theories. Scientific history is a permutation and not a combination. The order of discovery does not matter with permutation, but as combinations, it affects how we see things.
Energy and entropy are two ideas that were perceived in the 19th century, but they are the same process; when something is transformed, i.e., decays, energy is radiated. Thus, when the sun is shining, it is decaying and giving out energy. And when energy is temporarily captured, it can become a pocket of order, and all life is an example of it. There can be no energy without something decaying.
What if Issac Newton contemplated why apples rot instead of why apples fall? His choice was influenced by a societal construct created by the Greeks. If he had gone with the former, science as we know it today might turn out to be very different. Theoretical models in physics and chemistry would then be based on entropy instead of gravity. The falling of an apple or the rotting of one is an event observable by a human in reference to their lifespan. However, the 'rotting' of a piece of iron is not, even though it does 'rot'. Artificial intelligence is not subject to a similar constraint. All things decay and radiate energy. Elements in the periodic table could be arranged by the order of their stability.
Platonic numbers led to the concept of the Realm of Forms (the ideal form of things) and, combined later with Arabic concepts, led to the idea of commutative property, which becomes the heart of mathematics dilatation. Newton recognized that small spheres (eg, cannon balls) move by the same rules as big spheres (e.g., planets). However, the Law of Large Numbers (probability) cannot apply to a single particle’s behavior, so physicists have tried different analogies such as the string model, the "bullet points" model, and the "Big Bang" theory to explain the nature of the universe. These are human analogies; AI will bypass them and approach the subject strictly by number analysis.
Lavoisier proposed the conservation of matter between the reactants and products in a chemical reaction, but in fact, heat is lost in every interaction; entropy is present in chemical reactions. The French thinker Sadi Carnot had contemplated on the "motive power of fire", but it was a German engineer, Rudolf Clausius, who first introduced the concept of "entropy" as a component of machine design. He was a contemporary of Charles Darwin, and his insight was perhaps eclipsed by Darwin's popular theory on evolution. James Clerk Maxwell came to the realization that heat perpetuates motion in a bell-shaped curve manner. At absolute zero temperature, there is no motion. However, that state is inherently unstable because entropy (decay) is the law that governs the universe, and it gives heat to the system. AI will look at heat as a probability and predict the outcome.
Marie Curie brought the understanding of radiation. Radioactive decay is entropy. The Second Law of Thermodynamics stipulates that every interaction involves heat loss, i.e., radiation. Elements in the periodic table can be positioned according to their degree of stability (entropy).
In quantum physics, the Law of Large Numbers no longer applies to individual waves and particles.
String theory breaks individual particles into vibrating strings so that the Law of Large Numbers can be applied. Matrix algebra is used because the commutative property does not work (Heisenberg). It is the motion that creates heat.
Thermodynamics and Relativity may be just two different ways to conceptualize the same phenomenon: energy and entropy, time dilatation at speeds near light versus temperature near absolute zero. AI may analyze these relationships more from a thermodynamic perspective.
Artificial Intelligence’s fundamental concepts came from machine-learning work done under Alan Turing in WW2. John Von Neumann is another pioneer in this field. The features of AI include: no exaptation, no need for misleading analogies, it will evolve just to understand the universe unconfined by the arbitrary order of scientific discoveries, able to 're-shuffle' them, and able to "start over" branches of science without prejudice. It will change the narrative of science.
Chris Edwards
