Guido Tonelli, a professor of physics at the University of Pisa (Italy), took part in the adventure of discovering the so-called Higgs boson at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN). He was in fact the spokesman for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, one of two experiments installed alongside the LHC particle accelerator, which, in 2012, discovered the last missing particle from a hunting board. in the origin (Danod, 256 pages, € 19.90), the Italian researcher tells in seven stages how life emerged from the initial void in humans, passing through matter and light, stars and galaxies… to explain some of the most sensitive stages of life. In this fascinating story, Guido Tonelli uses images and metaphors borrowed from the world of art, mythology or religion.
Why did you want to write the history of origin as understood by modern science?
I talk a lot with religious people and I realized by communicating with them, but also by studying history, the importance of having stories of origin. This knowledge of the sequence of each link is essential for humanity. It makes us stronger. Science offers the most complete and detailed description to explain the appearance of matter, stars, planets and life… The universe follows the rules that science has gradually discovered. But beware, scholars should not be complacent about religion. Faith and logic are two different things. They both bring important stories to men by reassuring them.
How can he reassure us that we discover as we read jets of destructive particles, star explosions, black holes that swallow everything and the colossal expansion of space…?
Yes, that’s right, some parts of the universe are awful, chaotic and not at all reassuring. But wherever we are, it is very calm: the black hole in the heart of our galaxy is very far away and very inactive. I find the realization that all this is possible reassuring. I enjoy life more with all this knowledge. But we have not yet sufficiently discussed the moral and philosophical implications of the new concepts brought about by modern science.
what do you mean ?
the seventeenth In the last century, the discoveries of Galileo and Newton as well as the empirical method were a revolution, and then they affected our whole culture: we are in some way the products of these ruptures. Then general relativity and quantum mechanics were another revolution. Not only does it allow for incredible technical progress, but it also offers a change of heart and new visions for the world. You can see the connections between artists and intellectuals like Freud, Pirandello, Schoenberg, Kokoskka. You have read 67.71% of this article. The following is for subscribers only.
