Masters of War

[Click here for a Pearl Jam rendition of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War". ]

[Sorry, folks, I couldn't find a video of Dylan performing the song.]

Come you masters of war

You that build all the guns

You that build the death planes

You that build all the bombs

You that hide behind walls

You that hide behind desks

I just want you to know

I can see through your masks.

You that never done nothin'

But build to destroy

You play with my world

Like it's your little toy

You put a gun in my hand

And you hide from my eyes

And you turn and run farther

When the fast bullets fly.

I've been a Bob Dylan fan for many years. The places he went with his music spoke to me from the time of his earliest recordings. I especially appreciated his sense of outrage at the injustices in society in those early years. I did however think that his anti-war song "Masters of War", the first two verses of which are given above and that is now 50 years old, was a bit naive. It seemed to lay blame more at the feet of the arms manufacturers than at the feet of the politicians that lead us into wars. Well, I no longer feel that way. To varying degrees, both are to blame.

Look at armed conflicts in Africa, military interventions in the Middle East, US gun homicides, international arms trade, terrorist attacks ...what do these have in common? Two things: the resort to violence as a means to an end and the availability of weapons to carry out this violence.

We may be unable to change a predilection to violence but we sure can do things to decrease the availability of weapons. Okay, maybe not anything as dramatic as the Overlords in Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End, who made a nuclear missile already in flight simply disappear..but surely something more than the machinations of those US Senators who blocked a background check bill designed to keep guns out of the hands of felons, the mentally ill and, yes, terrorists.

The human toll due to war and war's after-effects are enormous. Not all wars make non-stop headlines in the United States. The Second Congo War (1998-2003), also known as the Great African War, is one example. Besides the deaths of tens of thousands of combatants, it has been estimated that the war has caused betweeen 2.7 and 5.4 million excess civilian deaths (through the present). This includes more than 350,000 violent civilian deaths (through 2001) with the remainder dying from hunger and disease unleashed by the war. [Wikipedia]

As the worst of the hostilities of the Second Congo War were coming to an end, the United States was beginning to gear up for the war with Iraq. That totally unnecessary invasion against a country that was no threat to us, that had zero WMD's and no connection to the 9/11 attacks resulted in more than 600,000 excess deaths according to a 2006 Lancet study. [Washington Post] During the time it was waged, the Iraq War became one of the biggest Al-Qaeda recruiting tools of all time. 

The ongoing gun slaughter on our streets is appalling. There is an undeniable correlation between gun ownership, gun laws and gun deaths. 10 times the number of people who died in the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 die each year in the US from guns. By 2015, annual gun deaths in the United States are expected to exceed deaths caused by automobiles. We license and test people before they can drive cars, which is, after all, just a means of transportation. How much more so should we demand background checks on people who want to own guns, the purpose of which is to kill? Sadly we are treated to a spectacle of the NRA contributing to Congressional campaigns and lobbying against not only an assault weapons ban but also against universal background checks and for cutting funding to research gun violence.

Like Judas of old

You lie and deceive

In this January article, Mother Jones destroys 10 gun myths perpetrated by gun-rights groups and lobbyists. Here's one myth: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people. " Fact: "The states with the highest gun ownership rates have a gun murder rate 114% higher than those with the lowest gun ownership rates."

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could

The arms lobby's money may not buy forgiveness but it sure can influence votes...at least in the United States. Fortunately, not so in the United Nations. On April 2, 2013, delegates from 154 nations, including the US,the largest arms exporter in the world, voted to adopt the first-ever international Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Per the UN ATT Conference webpage, the ATT will regulate "the international trade in conventional arms, from small arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships. The treaty will foster peace and security by putting a stop to destabilising arms flows to conflict regions. It will prevent human rights abusers and violators of the law of war from being supplied with arms. And it will help keep warlords, pirates, and gangs from acquiring these deadly tools." Let's hope the US Senate will approve this treaty when Obama presents it...else the Senators join North Korea, Syria, and Iran in voting no to the ATT. [See Oxfam America and UN ATT Conference webpages.] 

 

Sunday Round-Up - April 28, 2013

This is the weekly selection of news and opinion from sources outside the US mainstream media. Today we look at the failure of gun control legislation to pass the US Senate and at Italy's new government formed after two months of electoral paralysis.

Gun control fails in US Senate

The rest of the civilized world is still shaking its collective head about the failure of background check legislation and practically any other meaningful Federal legislative action to reduce gun violence. Two of the most thoughtful commentaries come from The Guardian (UK).

In his article, Gary Younge writes that atrocities like the Boston bombing are hard to tackle, but gun crime isn't. The UK should know. With their stricter gun laws, their per capita gun death rate is less than 3% of that in the United States (0.25/100,000 per year in the UK vs. 10.2/100,000 per year in the US). [Wikipedia] Comparing the Boston marathon bombing with the Newton shooting of 20 children and 6 teachers, he notes: "The contradictions in the political responses to the two tragedies and the issues they raise could not be more glaring or obscene."

In a somewhat similar vein,Michael Cohen questions why America loses its head over "terror" but ignores its daily gun deaths. Referring to the lockdown in Boston following the bombing: "So for those of you keeping score at home – locking down an American city: a proper reaction to the threat from one terrorist. A background check to prevent criminals or those with mental illness from purchasing guns: a dastardly attack on civil liberties."

 

Italy (Finally) Forms New Government
 

In February, Italy held its general election. The popular vote was close. The center-left Italy, Common Good coalition picked up 29.5% of the popular vote and center-right Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom coalition picked up 29.1%. The third place finisher was a new anti-establishment political party Five Star Movement headed by Beppe Grillo.  Five Star Movement came in with an astounding 25.5% of the vote! What's notable about this is that Beppe Grillo is a "comedian, actor, blogger, and political activist" [Wikipedia]. The "five stars" of the movement are a reference to five key issues: public water, sustainable transport, development, connectivity, and environmentalism. The coalition of the previous prime minister, Mario Monti, received 10.5% of the popular vote.

 

Now, two months after its divided elections, Italy finally has a new Prime Minister. Enrico Letta of the center-left Democratic Party will be the 25th person to hold the office. Letta's next step will be to form the Cabinet and assign the various ministries. According to La Repubblica, Letta stated his hope that the new government will be a "government of service to the country" and looked to make institutional and electoral reforms to prevent a reoccurrence of the paralysis resulting from the February election. This is about the fortieth cabinet formed in Italy since 1946. The new prime minister responded to a question regarding the center-right People of Freedom's conditions for forming a government: "This government will be born, but not at all costs."

 

President Obama and Congress please take note: Austerity has failed to revive the Italian economy. The jobless rate of young people (15-24 years old) there is now at 35%. Retail sales dropped for the 8th consecutive month. 25% of the people voted for a comedian.

Earth Day 2013

Today, people in 192 countries are celebrating Earth Day. Human-induced climate change is happening and regular readers of this blog will recall that it's become almost de rigeur for science-fiction writers to propose some climate catastrophe or another as background for their near-future stories.  Other major threats to the world ecosystems include pollution and overfishing.   I've pulled a number of pictures from the Web that remind us what is at stake if we don't get our act together on the environment.
 

 

 

Earthrise - Apollo 8 - NASA

 'nuf said

 

 

 

 Polar Ice Caps

From the "Enjoy Going Green" webpage - Melting of the Polar Ice Caps

 "At the current rate the ice caps are melting, a child born today could see a North Pole completely without ice in their lifetime....If the Greenland glaciers alone were to melt completely..., they could raise the water level by 20 feet. For some this is already a very real threat – buildings built in Russia on permafrost have already begun to twist, warp and crumble due to the melting land."

 

 

 

Coral Reef near Fiji

UK Guardian article on World Research Institute's 2011 Report: "Reefs at Risk"

Coral reefs are one of the most beautiful of the ocean's natural wonders.  They also provide one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet.  According to WRI's 2011 report: "Three-quarters of the world's coral reefs are at risk from overfishing, pollution and climate change...By 2050 virtually all of the world's coral reefs – from the waters of the Indian Ocean to the Caribbean to Australia – will be in danger."

 

 

Honey Bee

U.S. Green Chambers Webpage:-The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Bees

"Honey bees are of vital importance, and their declining populations are an incredibly critical issue. As pollinators, they are responsible for over 130 different fruit and vegetable crops that we eat." Remember the disappearing bees?  Well, they are still disappearing and, though the case is not completely solved,  Reuters notes that "three...studies point an accusing finger at a culprit that many have suspected all along, a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids....In the U.S. alone, these pesticides...coat a massive 142 million acres of corn, wheat, soy and cotton seeds. They are also a common ingredient in home gardening products."

 



Night Lights

NASA's Earth Observatory

 Do what you can and then sleep tight.

Previous Environmental Posts

Earth Day 2012
Past the Point of No Return (November 2012)
Rio +20 (June 2012)
Now That's Hot (May 2012)
Silent Spring, Nuclear Winter, Gaia and Medea (August 2011)

Global Warming 101 series (August 2011)
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Round-Up April 21. 2013

This is the weekly selection of news and opinion from sources outside the mainstream media. Today we look at the Senate vote on universal background checks for gun sales and, on a more pleasant note, Earth Day 2013.

US Gun Control

What can you say about a political system where the will of 80-90% of the country is thwarted by a minority filibuster vote ? In one of its more gutless acts, the US Senate was unable to muster the required 60 votes to pass universal background checks designed to keep guns out of the hands of felons and the mentally disturbed. The lies and robocalls of the NRA did their job. But why? The huge amount of money the NRA spent trying to defeat Obama in 2012 was ineffective. He won. They lost. What are the Senators afraid of ?

Mother Jones has a series of excellent short articles related to the debacle:

Here's their main article on the failure of the measure to pass the filibuster limit.

Cerberus Capital Management is trying to sell its ownership of  Freedom Group, the manufacturer of the gun used in the Newton CT tragedy.  Relating the difficulty of finding investors to buy them out MJ writes:  "In this case, it seems that Wall Street has a better sense of American public opinion than the Senate, which failed to pass a bipartisan background check bill on Wednesday."

They also look at the four Democrats who voted no on backegroundchecks - turns out they are all up for election in 2014 and all hail from states that went for Romney in 2012.  [Kudos on the other hand to John McCain and the other 5 Republicans who votesd for the background checks.]

 

MJ then takes on the gun lobby myth that guns stop crime. Charts are provided that show, among other myths, that "that less than 3 percent of gun-related homicides are committed in self-defense " and that the "typical gun is more likely to be stolen than to be used in an attempt to stop a crime".

 

They then give you some screen shots of the Mitch McConnell Facebook Page posted "after the defeat of the watered-down Manchin-Toomey background checks compromise".

Finally there's an update on other gun bills soon to be voted on (or not).

 

This TomDispatch article explores the actual causes of violent crime as opposed to the fear-mongering of the right. "To acknowledge what really threatens us is to upset two of the most guarded citadels in this country: the military and masculinity. They are perhaps the same force on different scales. Armed intervention is imperial machismo in the same way a raging husband or father is the military dictator of a household."

 

 

Earth Day 2013

 

News from Europe, Asia, and Africa on plans for Earth Day 2013...

The town of Cefalu on the north coast of Sicily is organizing three days of activities - among them "a Conference on sustainable issues, guided excursions on the rock of Cefalù, concerts, wine tasting of organic products, sports performances, environmental awareness-raising campaigns also at the various schools, and a photographic exhibition on planet Earth, designed as a multi-sensory experience (images, sounds, scents '), which will be held at the St. Catherine's Octagon."

[From the Earth Day Italia website as translated by Microsoft Bing.]

 

 

 

In Japan Kids Weekend at Earth Day Tokyo is again organizing a recreational tour for children from Fukushima (the site of the 2011 tsunami-caused nuclear accident).

And in South Africa, the day is being used to raise environmental awareness. The Greenworks South Africa website asks people to commit to "a billion acts of green" while nicely summarizing the world's and South Africa's environmental challenges: "Earth Day is a global movement to highlight and address environmental issues. These are just some of the major environmental issues our Planet faces: global warming and climate change... destructive energy sources... toxic waste... groundwater contamination, abuse of water resources, wetland destruction, and pollution of waterways and the oceans... litter... overfishing and unsustainable fishing...destruction of rainforests...and expanding deserts."

 

In Search of Beethoven

[Note on Selections: Unless otherwise stated, the works for which links are provided are featured in In Search of Beethoven but the specific performances are not taken from the film.  The film itself is available on DVD and currently on Netflix.]

How fortunate we are to have been born after Beethoven (...and after Edison so that we can listen to Beethoven's music without always having to attend a live concert !) When one gets fed up with venal do-nothing politicians and angry know-nothing dividers and and violence-prone zealots and haters, listening to the sublime and majestic compositions of this musical genius can recharge one's spirit. He believed in man's ultimate ability to triumph over adversity and to bring about a better world. Although beleagured by deafness, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) revolutionized serious music in Western culture. As one of the musicians in the documentary In Search of Beethoven says: "If we had to pick ten things that are great about humanity, there would be several of Beethoven's works amongst them."

Written and directed by Phil Grabsky, In Search of Beethoven (2009) is beautifully photographed - at times almost impressionistic - informative, and well written, drawing on expert commentary from contemporary musicians and composers as well as on Beethoven's letters. The film brings out the humanity, compassion, and ultimate optimism of this troubled cultural icon, who was totally deaf by the end of his life. Best of all, there are more than 60 segments of live performances of Beethoven's works. It is a good introduction to the man who is, by most reckonings, the greatest composer the world has ever seen.

Beethoven moved classical music into the Romantic era with his emotion and his focus on individual expression as well as form.  An admirer of the Liberté, Équalité, Fraternité ideals of the French Revolution, he was a firm believer in the brotherhood of man. His Third Symphony, Eroica, was originally written in honor of Napoleon, whom he saw as bringing these ideals to the rest of Europe. He became disillusioned with the General, though, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor after marching into Vienna. So much for the ideals of the revolution. Beethoven tore a hole in the score for the symphony while erasing Napoleon's name from the dedication. The Third Symphony represented a clear break from earlier classicists such as Hayden and Mozart. Here is a link to the Third Symphony's first movement as played by the New York Philharmonic.

 

Beethoven never married - though not from lack of trying. Unfortunately, he was in the habit of falling in love with women from the aristocracy and could never overcome the class barriers of that time. After all, Beethoven was a non-aristocratic "van" - not an aristocratic "von". He was a virtuoso pianist and wrote sonatas to these loves. Dedicated to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, the hauntingPiano Sonata No. 14 ("Moonlight") is one of Beethoven'smost well-known and popular compositions for the piano.

 

Much of Beethoven's music has an otherworldly, spiritual quality to it - putting us, as it were, in touch with eternity. His Missa Solemnis, Latin for "Solemn Mass", is overtly spiritual and one of his greatest compositions.   He worked on it for four years. Here are links to the sublime "Kyrie" and to the triumphant "Gloria" from the Missa Solemnis.

 

I'm not sure they played anything from the 7th symphony in the film, but it ranks high among my favorite pieces of music. Composer and music author Antony Hopkins says of the symphony: 

"The Seventh Symphony perhaps more than any of the others gives us a feeling of true spontaneity; the notes seem to fly off the page as we are borne along on a floodtide of inspired invention. Beethoven himself spoke of it fondly as 'one of my best works'. Who are we to dispute his judgment?" [Wikipedia]

Here are a couple of links to performances of the Seventh Symphony

 

First Movement
 

The Second Movement has been a mainstay in movies since 1934.  Yahoo lists 30 or so.  Among recent movies, you may recognize the Second Movement from 2010's The King's Speech

Is there any more optimistic piece in classical music than the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth symphony? Ode to Joy is the European Union's anthem. What a wonderful thought...

Be embraced, Millions!

This kiss for all the world!

Brothers!, above the starry canopy

A loving father must dwell....

Joy, daughter of Elysium

Thy magic reunites those

Whom stern custom has parted;

All men will become brothers

Under thy gentle wing.

In the movie, there is, of course, a retelling of the famous story of the first performance of the Ninth Symphony, which Beethoven co-conducted. Completely deaf and nearing the end of his life, his back was to the audience as the symphony ended. He had no idea of his listeners' reactions to this daring piece of work. He had no idea that, behind him, the audience had gone wild and was giving him a standing ovation.  A fellow musician came up to Beethoven, touched him gently on the elbow and turned him to see the tumultuous, joyful reaction. In all, Beethoven and his Ninth Symphony received five standing ovations that Vienna night in the May of 1824. As a commentator in the film notes, this was "two more than traditionally accorded the Emperor."

So I'll leave you with two links -

The 4th movement of the NinthSymphony

and the official movie trailer

Enjoy and let's hope, as Beethoven did, that "all men will become brothers".

 

Other Stuff

 

There is a qualitative difference, I believe, between the creativity of scientists and that of artists. A scientist's creativity leads to a discovery or theory that could be discovered or formulated at another time in another place. An artist's creativity is unique to the individual. Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz independently invented calculus at about the same time (1660's - 1670's). Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace were both investingating a theory of natural selection in the late 1850's. If Edison had not invented the phonograph, someone would have at a later date. But is there any possibility whatever that someone other than Beethoven could have written his symphonies? I think not.

 

 

 

 

Sunday Wrapup April 14, 2013

This is the weekly selection of news and opinion from sources outside the US mainstream media.  Today we look at Margaret Thatcher's passing and Secretary of State Kerry's travels to the Middle and Far East.  Links to the English articles are provided.

A couple of British looks at Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher died Monday April 8 at age 87. Prime Minister of the UK from 1979 to 1990, her time in office overlapped the Presidency of the similarly conservative Ronald Reagan. Her impact on the politics of Great Britain was as great as that of Reagan on the politics of the US, if not more so. Here are links to two Guardian articles. In the first, Gary Younge notes that: "Hers is a living legacy of marketisation, privatisation, economic stratification and social dislocation. Its victims and beneficiaries are not only still alive; they are still being born."

Best-selling English author and screenwriter Ian McEwan says that Margaret Thatcher "forced us to decide what was truly important." Reflecting on the change to the postwar British welfare state she brought to Britain: "We have paid for that transformation with a world that is harder-edged, more competitive, and certainly more intently aware of the lure of cash. "

China and South Korea news comments on the North Korean situation

As the US (and world) press get their collective knickers in a knot over the rhetoric emanating from North Korea, there is a calmer atmosphere closer to the blustering.

South Korean newspaper The Hankyoreh reports that "as US Secretary of State John Kerry began his visit to South Korea, China, and Japan on Apr. 12, there were signs that North Korea was adopting a more cautious stance about launching a missile." Praising Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's decision on April 5 to delay the test-launch of a new ICBM while tensions remain high, the article speculates on how North Korea might respond to overtures for dialogue.

The Global Times, an English language Chinese newspaper published under the auspices of the People's Daily, notes in this op-ed that the air raid drills "the appearance of a few vehicles with camouflage netting" in Pyongyang are nothing new - typical of the North Korean response when the US and South Korea engage in their annual military exercises. The author concludes that "whatever its views of North Korea, which are complex and nuanced, China has consistently called for restraint from all sides. For the Chinese, the solution to the current problem is for all sides to stop raising the tension with shows of military might and return to the negotiating table. And, despite all the noises, there are signs that this might happen."

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz took the occasion of Secretary of State Kerry's most recent visit to Israel to take the Netanyahu administration to task for its position on peace negotiations with the Palestinians. The newly formed government's position is "undercutting the US peace plan." Decrying what they call Israeli "rejectionism", the editiorial notes that Israel's "demand to discuss all the core issues could possibly be construed as another way of avoiding serious negotiation....It is impossible to understand this ... position, which blocks even the possibility of being able to discuss a sketch of the map of Israel and guaranteeing its security needs. These two important issues are the basis for progress."

Russia's Pravda, providing its take on the Palestinian view of Kerry's shuttle diplomacy, is even more downbeat: "As Obama's visit, the presence of Kerry has not been greeted with optimism by Palestinian organizations and movements who have lost confidence in a U.S. commitment to a just solution to the conflict. However, the PA [Palestinian Authority] stated they would strive to 'give a chance' to American attempts and proposals, as a way to demonstrate good will."

 

When The Blue Shift Comes : End of Time Sci-Fi

[Recent sci-fi posts have discussed Osiris by E.J. Swift and 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson.]

If humanity has spread throughout the solar system by 2312, it has spread throughout the stars and galaxies of the universe When the Blue Shift Comes, a two-novella work by Robert Silverberg and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro. Robert Silverberg has been writing science-fiction for more than 50 years. Zinos-Amaro is a newcomer to the field. In this addition to the Stellar Guild series, Silverberg teams with Alvaro Zinos-Amaro to produce a fantastical look at the very far future. Silverberg contributes the first of the novellas, The Song of Last Things, which he had laying on the shelf since 1987. As he explains in the introduction to the second novella The Last Mandala Sweeps by Zinos-Amaro, he had "embarked on an ambitious project...of writing a novel, or series of novels about the end of the universe." He abandoned the project but it found new life when the Stellar Guild editors approached him to participate in their series. He sent The Song of Last Things to the editors and Zinos-Amaro has completed the effort with the second novella.

Hanosz Prime is the ruler of the planet Prime in a galaxy far from our own. His tranquil life in the "1111th Encompassment of the Ninth Mandala" is disturbed when a traveler tells him of an anomaly at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy. This particular black hole is devouring matter at an enormous rate. Mankind's original home planet will soon be destroyed. Now in the far reaches of time, everyone enjoys a long life. Through a rebirthing process, a person can take on any bodily shape he or she wants and most of humanity has changed beyond recognition. Only those who are on Earth, though, are unlimited in the number of rebirths they can undergo. They have become physically immortal. Hanosz decides to undergo a rebirth, hand the ruling of Prime to his reluctant brother, and visit Earth to see if he can avert the disaster.

Thanks to the discovery of hyperwave and hyperspace technology, these inhabitants of the far future have both faster-than-light communication and faster-than-light travel. And thus Hanosz is soon on Earth at the estate of Sinon Kreidge and his lovely (by Ninth Mandala standards) daughter, Kaivilda. Needless to say, the people of Earth are disturbed by the recognition that they are no longer immortal. Factions advocating both action and passivity are debating what, if anything, to do about the impending disaster. Hanosz consults Earth's Oracles; an attempt is made on his life; and he leaves Earth with a duplicate of Kaivilda in tow to try to prevent the black hole from devouring the Milky Way Galaxy. With the aid of Kaivilda and the AI's onboard his ship, he travels towards the singularity. It soon becomes apparent that the black hole, which is growing at an enormous rate, will not only devour the Milky Way but also the entire universe if something cannot be done to stop it. Parallel universes, an information-filled holographic film at the edges of space-time, causality, changes in the universal physical constants - all play a role in the concluding drama.

When the Blue Shift Comes takes place unimaginably far in the future. As the mysterious narrator states: "Between our time and theirs, the English language was forgotten in its entirety...along with all the details of our civilization right down to the mere fact that it had ever existed." The humans of that time have changed beyond recognition - physically, emotionally and mentally. The closest relationship between two beings is one of "rapport" - an almost mystical state of union. Hanosz' and Kaivilda's "newfound rapport, vibrant and irresistible, makes the universe subjectively new in a way no amount of matter and energy reshuffling could ever hope to match...This rapport includes everything that Is, connecting everything that was once apart, joining and unifying even the most disparate of forces, sensations, impressions and ideas." When confronting their own mortality, the far future denizens of Earth are not that much different from ourselves. Kaivilda reflects: "No day has been taken for granted; every dawn has been an education, replete with longing, gratitude about her continued existence, and ... uncertainty about the future."

Other Stuff

The End of Space-Time

Theories of the ultimate fate of our universe seem to be divided into three general categories: the Big Freeze (aka "heat death"), the Big Crunch (the universe collapses in upon itself when its current expansion reverses), and a Never-Ending Multiverse. How the universe ends up depends on the amount of matter it contains - specifically on whether the gravitational force from the universe's matter is enough to stop the expansion of the universe that has been in progress since the Big Bang. Physicists are still trying to get their heads around this and no one knows the answer for sure. The growing understanding of dark matter (which is 5 times more prevalent than normal matter) and the recently discovered (1998) dark energy (which increases the universe's rate of expansion) are being figured into the calculations.

Briefly:

• If the amount of matter is too small and the universe continues to expand indefinitely, then all matter and energy will reach a "heat death" with temperatures near absolute zero. Long before this, the stars would be so far apart that the night sky on any planet would be completely devoid of them. 

• If the amount of matter in the universe is too great, the expansion will halt and then be reversed. Galaxies would collapse and the night sky would be filled with millions of suns as the universe hurtled backward into the dense point that exploded into the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago. 

• If, as in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the amount of matter is "just right", then the expansion of the universe would eventually come to a stop. In this case, though, there would be no reversal back into a Big Crunch. Whether expansion stops before there is too little useful energy to support life is a point to be considered.

Then there are variations within these categories. For example, in the Big Bounce, a variation of the Big Crunch, the collapse of the universe creates another another Big Bang and the process is repeated again and again...collapse...expansion...collapse...expansion... and so on.

Finally, the Never-Ending Multiverse derives from the theory of eternal inflation. In this theory, inflation, the incredibly rapid expansion of space-time that occurred immediately after the Big Bang, is a continual process with new universes being created all the time. While a given universe such as ours would suffer heat death, the Multiverse itself would never end.

These final expansions or contractions of the universe lie far in the future - more than a hundred trillion years in the future according to current theories. How about something closer to home - the Sun and the solar system and, of course, the Earth?

 

Life-cycle of the Sun; sizes are not drawn to scale. [Wikipedia]

 

Th Sun is about midway through its life cycle. In about 5 billlion years, the Sun will have grown into a "red giant". The Sun is not large enough to turn supernova when it collapses but rather it will eventually become a white dwarf star. As it expands into its red giant phase, it will make life unsustainable on Earth. About 1 billion years from now, the Earth will be so hot that its oceans will evaporate. In 4 billion years, there will be a runaway greenhouse effect that will make nearly all life on land extinct. In 7.5 billion years, Earth will be absorbed by the expanding sun. Man will have to take to the stars (or at least to the moons of the gas giants) if the species is to survive.

Physical cosmology is the branch of physics that studies, among other things, the ultimate fate of the universe. For further reading, I recommend the following Wikipedia articles, which were helpful in developing this post.

Theories About the End of the Universe
Future of an Expanding Universe
Life Phases of the Sun
Future of the Earth

Blue Shift

The Blue Shift of the book's title refers to the property of waves (e.g., light, sound) to increase in frequency (i.e., have shorter wave lengths) as the object emitting the waves approaches the observer. A red shift denotes the opposite effect as the object recedes from the observer. A common example of the shifts in frequency is the sound of a car that approaches and then passes the observer and recedes in the distance. The most scientifically important instance of the shifts is Hubble's Law, named after American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953).  Hubble showed that the velocity of a galaxy moving away from the Earth increases with its distance from us, implying that the universe is expanding. Hubble did this by measuring the redshift of the light coming from what at the time were called "nebulae" but what we now know as galaxies.