Piero Scaruffi

These are excerpts and elaborations from my book "The Nature of Consciousness"

The Power of Constants At this point we can note that all the revolutionary and controversial results of these new theories arose from the values of two constants. Quantum Mechanics was a direct consequence of Planck's constant �h�: were that constant zero, there would be no uncertainty. Relativity Theory was a direct consequence of the speed of light �c� being constant in all frames of reference: were the speed of light infinite, there would be no time dilatation, nor contraction of length. These two constants were determined, indirectly, by studying two minor phenomena that were still unsolved at the end of the century: the ether and the black body radiation. The presence of the ether could not be detected by measuring the speed of light through it; so Einstein�assumed that the speed of light is always the same. The black body does not radiate light with all possible values of energy but only with some values of energy, those that are integer multiples of a certain unit of energy; so Planck�assumed that energy exchanges must only occur in discrete packets. These two universal constants alone revealed a whole new picture of our universe. They are more than �constants� though: they can also be viewed as powerful operators that dramatically alter reality. By multiplying a time by the speed of light, we obtain a length: the speed of light converts time into space (and vice versa). By multiplying a frequency by the Planck�constant, we obtain an energy: the Planck constant converts waves into particles (and vice versa). Furthermore, the gravitational constant �G� in General Relativity performs a similar function: it converts energy-momentum density into spacetime curvature. These constants (�h�, �c� and �G�) acquire a truly metaphysical aspect.   Back to the beginning of the chapter "The New Physics" | Back to the index of all chapters