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Physicists: The Physics of
Life and Death
After leaving the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Britain over 20 years
ago, physicist and physics teacher Sheila Holmes recently joined the
U.K.'s Women Returners to Physics Open University program, determined to
go back into scientific research and use her knowledge and understanding
as a force for good.
Poshak Gandhi is an observational astrophysicist specializing in the
properties of black holes. Born in India, he earned his PhD at Cambridge
University in the U.K. and is currently on a fellowship at RIKEN
(Institute of Physical and Chemical Research) in Saitama, Japan.
The interviews were conducted separately.
How did you first become interested in your
field?
Sheila: I wanted to become a
physicist since I was about 15, when I first heard about the existence
of small sub-atomic particles called quarks, which make up the nucleus
of an atom. The whole world of the myriad existence of particles within
the nucleus fascinated me, and I decided to work in particle physics
then.
Poshak: When I was about five years
old, I read that the universe is so big that even light from the nearest
star takes four years to reach us. The nearest large galaxy to us is 2
million light-years away, and there are hundreds of billions of galaxies
in the universe. I remember being taken aback at the scale of things,
and that sense of wonder stayed with me.
It's exciting that, sitting here on Earth, we are able to look toward
the distant edges of the universe and draw inferences about the big
questions, about how the universe formed, how our life on Earth emerged.
How would you describe the relationship between
astrophysics and nuclear physics?
Poshak: Astrophysics is the study of
the macrocosm, nuclear physics deals with almost the smallest particles
we know of--the nuclei of atoms and their structure. Studies in
astrophysics have helped us make advances in the field of nuclear
physics as well, simply because nuclear reactions are a fundamental part
of everything that happens, for example in the Sun and in distant stars.
All the energy of the Sun comes from this process of nuclear fusion, in
which lighter elements, like hydrogen and helium, are forced together
under immense pressures to combine and form heavier elements.
Also, there are big explosions known as supernovae, which mark the end
of the life of massive stars. In these explosions all the elements
heavier than iron--uranium, for example--are manufactured, and then they
are dispersed into the universe by this huge explosion.
How do you see the relationship between
Buddhism and science?
Sheila: Buddhism has a different way
of looking at the universe, different from a rational reductionist way
of thinking. Scientists try to understand things by breaking them up
into smaller and smaller bits. But then there is the Buddhist concept
that the microcosm is the macrocosm, which I think science tends to lose
sight of. I am trying to take that Buddhist principle into my
understanding of subatomic physics while at the same time looking at
quantum physics, which is part physics, part philosophy, from a Buddhist
perspective.
Particle physics is all to do with the different forces between
particles. The Holy Grail of physics is to unify those forces into a
grand unified theory, which is what Einstein was trying to do and what
people are working quite hard on right now. You can either look at
particle physics by looking at these tiny subatomic particles at very
high energy levels in big particle accelerators, or you can work back
and theorize about what was happening when the universe was created.
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Telescopes bathed in
moonlight atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii [Photo: Poshak Gandhi] |
One example in which the conditions are right for unification of these
forces to occur is provided by the Big Bang theory in which it is
thought that matter was condensed into a very small volume, while energy
levels were extremely high.
Physicists seek a unified theory that can encapsulate the workings of
the universe, in the same way as Nichiren Buddhists see
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the "law of life" at the heart of the universe.
From a Buddhist perspective, the universe is life. So, therefore, even
these subatomic particles are life. A physicist would see matter as
separate from life; but as a Buddhist I think there is always some
aspect there that has the characteristics of life. I am trying to
understand this through the concept that the microcosm is the macrocosm.
Poshak: Buddhism and science are
complementary ways of exploring the internal and external worlds. For
instance, Buddhism--especially Nichiren Buddhism--emphasizes the truth
and seeking actual proof, constantly asking questions. These are the
core of the scientific method, and qualities I continually try to
cultivate within myself.
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The Andromeda
Galaxy, 2 million light-years from earth |
Buddhism has the concept that all phenomena are impermanent and
ever-changing, and this is something that observations over the past
century have shown to be true--that everything, including stars and
galaxies themselves, are born, and will eventually die.
Also, I talked earlier about the process of nuclear fusion by which the
elements are created--all the elements in your body and my body and
everything around us were probably created in the center of the same
massive star soon after it died in a supernova explosion. So on the very
physical, fundamental level, there's no difference between us. Buddhism
stresses that all people are fundamentally equal, and here in science we
have a very physical basis for this.
Incidentally, the process of nuclear fusion that creates the elements of
life is the same process that we have harnessed to such destructive
effect in hydrogen bombs.
Sheila, what was your experience of working at
a nuclear weapons factory?
Sheila: I monitored radiation levels
in the Aldermaston plant in the U.K. At that time I believed in the
concept of nuclear deterrence. Living and working with the reality of
nuclear weapons was very different from having an intellectual
understanding. I lived on-site in the accommodation with the people who
were working there. The whole work area was contaminated with plutonium
dust, because that is where they are machining the plutonium to make the
bombs. At that time there was no veto on pregnant women working at the
site. The whole thing was nightmarish, seeing the bombs and the
plutonium being machined and fashioned. I had a physical revulsion
against nuclear weapons. I couldn't live my life that close to the
weapons.
By the time I left, I no longer believed in the nuclear deterrent
because I had come up against the actual bombs, the weapons themselves.
That changed me. I will not work in the defense industry.
What do you see as the major contributions of
your field?
Sheila: Medical physics has been
hugely advanced by using nuclear technology in, for example, scanners to
accurately diagnose cancers and other diseases. The use of radiotherapy
in cancer has significantly increased survival rates.
Poshak: The worldview that it has
given us. To me, it's much more interesting to know that we are sitting
on a small, fragile planet going around the center of our galaxy at 220
km per second in a small region of a dynamic, possibly infinite
universe, rather than a viewpoint that is Earth-centric, a universe in
which everything happens for human beings. The first viewpoint is so
much more full of the wonder and preciousness of life.
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