A Quest for Our Cosmic Origins
The First Three Days
Copyright © 2010 Edwin L. Kerr
Chapter
1: Moses Foresaw Three Discoveries
The preceding material is the Introduction and Chapter 1 of a completed book entitled The First Three Days. Below is the full table of contents, interspersed with summary paragraphs.
Preface
13
I.
Introduction
19
Precise Science Confirms the Bible 19
An Enduring Battle 19
Withdrawing from the Present
Stalemate 21
Precise Science in the Future 22
Chapter 1: Three Discoveries Anticipated 23
The Three Discoveries 23
The First Discovery 24
The Mass and Weight of Energy 25
Transformation between Matter and
Energy 27
Materialization 29
Different Kinds of Rays 30
No Way to Get Rich 31
Materialization in “Empty” Space 31
Was Energy the Source of
Material? 33
The Second Discovery 35
The Third Discovery 39
The First Light
42
Separating Light from Darkness 43
Early Ideas about the Beginning 44
Ancient Myths and Modern
Cosmology 44
One Up-to-Date Ancient Cosmology 47
The Confirmation 50
A Challenging Question 51
Moses Identifies His Source 51
We Require Extraordinary Evidence 52
II.
The First Three Days of the Earth
54
Chapter 2: Cycles of Darkness and Light 55
A Criterion for Observing the
Passing of a Day 55
An Ancient Criterion 57
Teaching Children 57
The Idea Moses Expresses with the
Word Day 58
A Day, Not “The First Day” 59
Not “Literal, 24-Hour Days” 61
What is the simplest way to determine if it is nighttime or daytime? Just look outside and observe either darkness or daylight. Ancient people used this scientific criterion long before they had timekeeping devices. Small children, too young to count to 24 or accurately gauge the passing of an hour, also know the difference between day and night. Scientists who think in elementary observational terms don’t confuse the concept of a day with the duration of a day.
How Long Did the First Three Days Last? 63
The Earth’s Rotation and the First Two
Days
64
The Duration of the First Day 65
A day is one cycle of alternation between a phase of natural darkness and then perceptible brightness. (Sometimes the word day refers to the bright phase only.) There is no reference to the duration of the cycle. On Mars days last 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds. A day on the Moon goes through about two weeks of darkness and two weeks of daylight. At the North Pole or South Pole of the Earth a day is a year. A day is 24 hours only in the tropical and temperate zones of the surface of the Earth.
The author of the Genesis narrative uses this same criterion for the first seven days. In the beginning neither the Earth nor the Sun was yet formed. There was nothing to measure 24 hours. First there was darkness. Then the darkness shone, making the first light. These two phases were what God called night and day or evening and morning. Together they made up a day. The Bible doesn’t say how long the first day lasted. Because scientists have photographed the first light, they know that it lasted about 380,000 years.
The First Three Cycles of Darkness and
Light 66
The fading of the first light brought on an epoch of darkness, the second evening, before gravity formed the denser regions of gas clouds into the first stars and compression heated them to ignition. After this, most of the material in the universe was bathed in the light of the second morning. The simplest elements, hydrogen, helium, and lithium, cooked in the intense light and heat of stellar interiors, synthesizing all 92 natural elements. At the end of this process the larger stars exploded, spewing out the elements as dust. Part of the dust made up new stars, some of them yellow stars that used the dust to burn at a lower temperature than the first, blue-white stars. The rest of the dust drifted in the darkness of space, the evening of the third day. In our galaxy a yellow star collected some of the drifting dust and made planets, the inner ones enriched with the chemical elements necessary for life. When the Earth had vegetation nourished by sunlight and photosynthesis it was the third morning.
Chapter 3: First Evening: Energy and Particles 69
The Energy of Particles 69
Atoms and Particles 69
The Mass of Subatomic Particles 70
The Energy of Different Kinds of Rays 73
An Atomistic View of Waves 73
The Most Energetic Rays 77
Only X- or Gamma-Rays Make Particles 78
Natural Particle Production 79
The First Particles 80
Simulating the Process 80
Particles from Darkness 81
Darkness in the Bible 82
The First Evening 82
Why Darkness Comes First 84
Isaiah’s
Insight on Darkness and Light
85
Creating the Darkness 85
Dark But Not Evil 86
Formless, Empty, and Dark 87
Chapter 4: Was There a Beginning? 89
The Objectivity of Science 89
An Uncreated, Unchanging Universe 90
Evidence for a Beginning 92
The Age of the Earth 92
Ocean Salinity 92
Radioactivity 93
Spontaneous Fission 93
Alpha and Beta Particles, and Gamma
Rays 94
The Identity of the Particles 94
Natural Radioactive Elements 95
Elements in the Stars 96
Natural Radiation from Space 97
Stars Consume Their Fuel 98
Cosmology and Relativity 98
Special Relativity 100
Relativity and Rotary Motion 102
Relativity and Morality 103
General Relativity 104
The most important finding of modern cosmology is that the universe had a beginning, popularly but misleadingly called “the Big Bang.” Rejection of the clear philosophical implications of a beginning has led some to concoct extravagant theories about a universe that looks like it began but didn’t, or might collapse and recycle itself in spite of all the evidence that the present universe will expand forever. Einstein thought the universe was uncreated but later confessed that his prejudice led to “the biggest blunder” of his career. Lesser scientists died trying to find some model of an uncreated universe that would fit the observed facts. The beginning Genesis describes has become the standard model of the expanding universe.
Gravity, Inertia, and Planetary Stability 107
Missing Mass and Galactic Instability 108
Gravitational Instability of the Universe 112
The Cosmological Constant 112
Physical Determinism 115
A Fully Deterministic Universe 117
Physical Predestination and Creation 119
Quantum Indeterminacy or Uncertainty 121
Uncertainty and Predestination 128
Einstein versus Bohr 129
Logical Positivists are Still Waiting 131
Philosophy versus Science 131
Limits of Physical Predestination 132
Einstein was a pacifist who spent most of his life fighting the warmongering of his times. The Nazis wanted to hang him, but he escaped. All of this had a curious effect on Einstein’s view of the laws of physics. He based his major objection to creation on his idea that the laws of physics are completely deterministic. To Einstein this implied that a Creator would physically predetermine people’s thoughts as He chose the initial conditions for the universe. The Creator therefore could not justly judge people’s thoughts and actions, because He would really be judging Himself. Einstein’s objection to creation became irrelevant when quantum mechanics showed that physical laws couldn’t predetermine that life would appear anywhere in the universe. The Creator has made the laws of physics such that we, not He, are responsible for what we plan or do.
Crucial Intervention as Life Appeared 133
God Created the Heavens and the Earth 133
God Created Plant Life 133
God Created Marine and Avian Life 133
God Created Animals More Than Once 134
God Created Humans Male and Female 134
God Will Create New Heavens and a New
Earth 135
Chapter 5: First Morning: The Simplest Elements 137
The End of Particle Production 137
Doppler Shift, Expansion, and Cooling 138
The Beginning of Nucleosynthesis 139
Four Forces 141
Electromagnetic Forces and Gravity 141
The Strong Nuclear Force 142
The Weak Nuclear Force 144
Forces Present in Empty Space 147
Nucleosynthesis 149
The First Elements 150
The First Halt in Nuclei Production 152
Insufficient Complexity 153
The First Light 154
The Immediate Cause of the First Light 156
Forming the Light 157
Light Shining out of Darkness 158
The Confirmation of Darkness and Light 159
Chapter 6: Second Evening: Expansion 161
The Expanding Universe 162
The Giant Atom that Exploded 163
Not a “Big Bang” Explosion but an
Expansion 164
Expansion Preserves Order 166
Inflation Soon After the Beginning 168
The Expansion Rate is Finely Tuned 169
Expanding Now But Later What? 169
Expanding but Uncreated 172
The Cyclic Universe 173
Always Expanding but Never Beginning 174
Continuous Creation 175
Complex Causes for Complex Results 179
Scientific Objections to Continuous
Creation 181
Lack of Experimental Evidence 181
Distant Galaxies Look Newly Formed 182
Nucleosynthesis of Low-Mass Elements 182
The Fluctuations 183
The Cyclic Version of Continuous
Creation 184
Will Unknown Physics Recycle the
Universe? 185
Accelerating Expansion 186
No Big Crunch and No New Physical Laws 189
The Symmetric Universe and Other Jokes 190
The Success of the Expanding Universe
Theory 192
Chapter 7: Second Morning: Heavy Elements 193
Making Heavy Elements Takes Heat and Light 193
Differences in Stellar Chemical
Composition 194
Nuclear Binding Energy 195
Energy from Fusion and Fission 196
The Proton-Proton Reaction 197
Neutrons and Hydrogen to Deuterium 197
Hydrogen and Deuterium to Simple
Helium 198
Simple Helium to Ordinary Helium 199
Summary of the Proton-Proton
Reaction 199
Instability Releases Energy 200
Nuclear Stability 200
Different Kinds of Fission 201
Making the Rest of the Elements 201
Burning Helium and Heavier Elements 203
Chapter 8: Third Evening: A Dusty Yellow Star 207
Novas and Supernovas Begin the Third
Evening 207
Extraterrestrial Water 208
Lighting the Sun’s Fire 209
Carbon-Oxygen Reactions 210
The Darkness of the Third Evening 211
During the 20th century, cosmology, nucleosynthesis, and astrophysics combined to give us the above story. It fits beautifully with Genesis.
Chapter 9: Third Morning: Solar System Formation 213
Criteria for a Planet Suitable for Life 214
A Host Galaxy Rich with Dust 215
A Galactic Location among New Stars 215
A Solitary Parent Star 215
A Star of the Right Size 215
A Star of the Right Color 216
A Bright Sun in a Dark Sky 218
Circular Orbits 219
A Court of Planets 219
A Nearly Spherical Planet 219
Moderate Orbital Inclination 219
A Large Satellite 220
The Right Temperature 221
The Right Size for Just Enough
Atmosphere 221
A Molten Core 221
Various Kinds of Rocks 221
Abundant Water, Not Other Liquids 222
The Right Balance between Gases 223
Surface Soil and Dissolved Gases 224
Tranquil Conditions 224
The Search for a Planet Suitable for Life 227
The universe and the solar system seem to be designed for life. Scientists have found many parameters that have just the right values to make a planet that supports life.
III.
More Constraints from Precise Science 232
Chapter 10: Three Kinds of Darkness 233
The Darkness of Space 233
Olbers’ Paradox 234
A Black Forest and the Stars 235
Seeing to the Far Limit of the Universe 236
The Limit of the Known Universe 238
Ordinary Darkness 241
Obscuration, a Third Kind of Darkness 241
The Durations of the Second and Third Days 242
Biblical Kinds of Darkness 242
Ordinary
but Necessary Darkness 243
Obscuration, Judgment, and Mourning 243
The Sequence of Sources 245
Chapter 11: Conditions at the Very Beginning 247
Creation from Nothing 247
Can We Create Energy? 250
God Works to Create Energy 250
The Work Necessary to Create the
Universe 251
Denial of Creation 252
The Simplest Explanation 253
Creation in a Singularity 253
Can We Investigate the Instant of
Creation? 259
The First Light Has Fluctuations 261
Chapter 12: The Next Three Days 425
The Duration of a Usual Day 425
Structure in the Genesis Narrative 427
Examples of Parallelism 428
The Parallel Structure of the Creation
Narrative 429
Day Four 430
Verb Tenses and Sequences 430
Creating, Forming, and Making 431
Not All Stars Were Made on the Fourth
Day 432
Against Idolatry and Astrology 432
When Did the Stars and Sun Begin to
Shine? 433
Signs and People 436
When photosynthesis had stocked the Earth’s atmosphere with sufficient oxygen conditions were ready for living organisms with brains and eyes. Such organisms can perceive sunlight as a sign of daytime, or its lack as nighttime. The second part of the Genesis narrative describes the filling of the heavens and the Earth in the same order as the first part, when the light, expanse, waters, and Earth formed. On the fourth day God commissions the light sources in the sky to govern. On day five He blesses the living creatures that fill the air and waters. On the sixth day He creates the first human couple and commissions them to replenish the Earth.
IV.
Questions for Research and Respectful Dialog 439
Chapter 13: Two Definitions of the Universe 441
Speculation and Confirmed Theories 442
Demarcation 443
“God Isn’t Necessary” 443
“The Laws of Physics Do Not Govern God” 443
Forensics and Archeology are Sciences 444
Covering Up Emotional Objections 446
Demarcation Restricts the Search for
Truth 446
Immovability or Establishment 447
Comparison with the Koran 453
Chapter 14: What is the Origin of the
Universe? 457
All indications from precise science are consistent with the idea that the God of the Bible created the universe and later told His friend Moses about it. We must all reach our own conclusions. The quest for our cosmic origins continues.
Appendices 463
Appendix A:
Numbers and Physical Constants 465
Avogadro’s Number 465
The Mass of an Electron 465
Planck’s Constant 466
Particle Parameters 466
Converting Watt-Seconds to Kilowatt-Hours 467
Solar Mass 467
The Volume of the Visible Universe 467
The Boltzmann Constant 467
Penrose’s Large Number 467
The Precision of the Expansion Rate 468
The Mandelbrot Set 468
Appendix B:
Biblical Use of Certain Words 469
Yahweh 469
Creating Disaster, Not Evil 469
Expansion, Not “Firmament” 471
The Stretching is Ongoing 472
Spreading Out the Earth 478
The Ends of the Earth 483
Appendix C:
What Keeps NASA Scientists Honest?
495
The Pitfalls of Sensationalism 495
Extraterrestrials and the Budget 496
Appendix D:
About the Author 497
Academic Preparation 497
Professional Employment 497
Languages 498
Publications 498
Patents and Prizes 501
Appendix E:
Illustration Credits 502
Index 505
Endnotes 529
The First Three Days is a book awaiting a publisher. The author invites publishers with established links to bookseller distribution networks to write to him at 607 Glade Place, Valparaiso IN 46383 or Calle Montelirio, 8, Castilleja de Guzmán, 41908 (Sevilla) SPAIN.