On Earth as in The Heavens - Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958-) is an American astrophysicist, author and science communicator. In 1996, he became the director of Hayden Planetarium. 'On Earth as in The Heavens' is an essay by Neil deGrasse Tyson published in the " Natural History" magazine in 2000. Here he talks about the universality of Physical laws that are applicable both in Earth and everywhere in the universe. He has effectively used the theories of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein to establish his arguments.

It was Isaac Newton who came out with the law of gravitation and proved all motions are comprehensible and predictable. Newton's law of gravity has made us realize how and why all planets, asteroids and comets orbit the sun and also about the similar orbits of hundreds of billions of stars in our milky way galaxy. Actually the principles of gravity had to be reformulated when it was applied to the objects of extremely high mass. Thus it has been proved that Newton's law of gravity is generally applicable but with black hole and with large structures of the universe Einstein's general relativity theory is to be applied. So, though the underlying physical laws are believed to be constant, our understanding and representation of them are constantly evolving and getting refined and updated.

Sometimes we may have to interplay multiple Physical laws at a time. When the Comet Shoemaker-Levy-9 exploded with in Jupiter's gas rich atmosphere in 1994, our scientist had to combine the laws of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, kinematics and gravitation altogether to predict and to get convinced of the incident. Moreover not all things and phenomena in the Cosmos have counterparts on Earth. Thus, helium, the substance in the sun discovered. Similarly the substance found in million degree plasma, has got the name 'Nebulium'. Nebulium is said to be the signature of ordinary oxygen doing extraordinary things.  

According to Tyson, apart from the law of gravity, the constant of gravitation, the 'Big G', has also helped us to understand a lot. Among the constants, the speed of light is one. Nothing can overtake a beam of light. But as we have succeeded in our flying faster than sound and splitting the atom, one day we may overtake the beam of light. Then the interstellar travelers may sometimes see the highway sign 'The Speed of light'. Tyson is also of the opinion that if alien life exists, that it will also be following the same physical laws that we do. So, no doubt the Universe is governed by a single set of physical laws that can be discovered and understood through scientific inquiries. Thus Tyson explains the universality of physical laws that are applicable both in Earth and everywhere in the universe in his, 'On Earth as in the Heavens', in an excellent way.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Epw2M0gBdg

 ------Thulasidharan V