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Nothing,
Nada, Zip, Null . . .
Thu, Jun 8, 2000
 Have
you ever thought about nothing? Is there such a place that has absolutely
nothing in it? Freaky thought! Absolutely nothing. Can you imagine nothing?
Well, I can't, and I have just completed a book about nothing, and we're not
talking about that TV show about nothing, what was it? Nothing in my brain's
memory banks about it so I forgot! I'm talking about Nothingness: The Science
of Empty Space by Henning Genz, an outstanding book that may give you a
headache if you think about it too much. In my case, I avoid the headaches by
only reading a chapter or a section of a chapter at one time. Reading this book
before you go to sleep is a certain way to trigger very strange dreams, full of
. . . Nothingness!
Even empty space between galaxies is not empty! There are molecules of helium or
hydrogen, photons from light emitted by stars and other heavenly objects, x-rays
from black holes and other high-density stellar objects, and so on. No empty
space!
On Earth, forget it! Even vacuum tubes are dense compared to interstellar space,
and we’ve seen how un-empty that is!
From the time of the ancient Greeks, thinkers have been thinking of perfect
vacuums, ironically filling those vacuums with their thoughts, and scientists
have been trying to find or produce a perfect vacuum. Mother nature always says,
“No!” to those attempts. Sure, we get close enough for practical use, such
as in vacuum tubes in the old radios, the partial vacuums in pumps, and, of
course, the household vacuum cleaner. Those are not even close when we look at
space between Earth and the moon, and that is a literal soup of matter and
energy compared to interstellar space.
Head hurt yet? Mine’s starting to hurt, so let me leave you with a thought or
two to fill space between your ears. I have discovered a perfect vacuum. Yes, I
have discovered that elusive perfect vacuum!
Where is it, you ask? Why, obviously, I respond, that perfect vacuum is the
reasoning portion of the minds of people who watch and enjoy golf or bowling on
television!
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