December 1, 2018 • 5 mins
Both scientists and mystics revere the number 137, but why? Learn the significance of this seemingly humble number in today's episode of BrainStuff.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,
Lauren vog Obam. Here, what's the key to unlocking the
mysteries of the universe? If you're expecting an incantation in
some ancient language originally divined by a holy quester sitting
cross legged on a mountaintop, this answer may disappoint you.
It might just be a number and not the number
(00:23):
forty two. Douglas Adams really was just joking about that,
but it could be the number A hundred and thirty seven.
Those three digits, as it turns out, have long been
the rare object of fascination that bridges the gulf between
science and mysticism, igniting the imaginations of folks from fringe
theorists and occultists to scientists and researchers to physicists. A
(00:45):
hundred and thirty seven is the approximate denominator of the
fine structure constant, which is the measure of the strength
of the electromagnetic force the controls how charged elementary particles
such as the electron and the muon interact with photons
of light. And we say approximate because it actually goes
on for a few decimal points. The exact value of
(01:05):
the fine structure constant is one over a hundred and
thirty seven point zero three five nine nine three. The
fine structure constant is one of the key physical constants
of the universe. Writing about it in a recent New
Scientist article, author Michael Brooks explained this immutable number determines
how stars burn, how chemistry happens, and even whether atoms
(01:28):
exist at all. Let's unpack all of that a little bit.
We spoke via email with Paul Davies, Regents Professor physics
at Arizona State University. He explained that the fine structure
constant quote characterizes the strength with which matter couples to light.
That is, the probability that an excited atom will decay
in a certain time. He said that if the constant
(01:50):
was bigger quote, Adams would decay faster. It is significant too,
because it is a pure number, he said, a ratio
of quantities with equal units, unlike say, the speed of light,
which is either a hundred and eighty six thousand miles
per second or three thousand kilometers per second, depending on
which units you prefer. British physicist Lawrence Eaves once explained
(02:10):
it this way. If the fine structure constant was a
different value quote, physics, chemistry and biochemistry would be totally
different and we might not be around to talk about it.
But practically, from the time of its discovery in nineteen
fifteen by German physicist Arnold Summerfeld, the fine structure constant
seemed to signify some larger metaphysical truth as well. We
(02:32):
spoke with Arthur I. Miller, and emeritus Professor of History
and Philosophy of Science at University College London. He said
that the fine structure constant quote, determines the distance between
an atom's spectral lines, which are the Adam's DNA, and
so it's one of those numbers that is at the
root of the universe. If it were any other value
than the structure of matter would be very different, and
(02:53):
so us too. People began referring to it as a
mystical number. He continued the language of the spectra, the
spectral lines, where Somemrfeld found it is a true music
of the spheres within the atom. People asked why it
has this particular value. Physicists could only conclude that it
cannot have this value by accident. It is out there
(03:15):
independent of the structure of our minds. But in nineteen
twenty nine, English astrophysicist Arthur Eddington, who played a key
role in establishing the validity of Albert Einstein's general theory
of relativity and was an early advocate of the Big
Bang theory, among other things, began expressing the fine structure
constant as one over a hundred and thirty seven. He
(03:36):
also saw it as having larger spiritual implications. Miller said,
Arthur Eddington saw a new mysticism which would emerge from
the natural sciences. Perhaps he thought the clue lay in numbers,
particularly the number one thirty seven. Eddington's reputation as one
of the great astrophysicists of his day put a great
deal of weight on this approach. Physicist Richard Feynman predicted
(03:58):
that the periodic table would end at one thirty seven
based on the rules of relativity, and Austrian born quantum
physics pioneer Wolfgang Paully became fascinated with the number as well,
since it figured in the mysterious intersection of relativity and
quantum theory that he explored with the help of his
friend psychoanalyst Carl Young. The scientific fixation on the fine
(04:19):
structured constant was such that in nineteen thirty six, Nature
published an article titled the Mysterious Number one seven. But
as Polly learned in the nineteen fifties from a religious scholar,
A hundred and thirty seven has another significance. It was
the number associated with the Kabbalah, an esoteric form of
Jewish mysticism, what Miller calls quote an extraordinary link between
(04:41):
mysticism and physics. The number A hundred thirty seven also
appears frequently in the Torah. It's the lifespan in years
of figures such as Ishmael and Levy, for example, as
well as the age of Abraham when he bound his
son Isaac to an altar in preparation to sacrifice him.
Author Billy Phillips, writing for kabbala student dot com, explained
that beyond that, the relationship of the fine structure constant
(05:04):
to light in physics parallels the combolists concept of connecting
with light or becoming enlightened by shedding the ego. Phillips
put it this way, the missing puzzle piece for physics
is consciousness. Today's episode was written by Patrick J. Tiger
and produced by Tyler clang. To learn more about the
(05:26):
number A hundred thirty seven, check out Miller's book seven
Young Polly and the Pursuit of a Scientific Observation, and
of course, for more on this and lots of other
articles that attempt to explain life, the universe, and everything,
visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,
Lauren vog Obam. Here, what's the key to unlocking the
mysteries of the universe? If you're expecting an incantation in
some ancient language originally divined by a holy quester sitting
cross legged on a mountaintop, this answer may disappoint you.
It might just be a number and not the number
(00:23):
forty two. Douglas Adams really was just joking about that,
but it could be the number A hundred and thirty seven.
Those three digits, as it turns out, have long been
the rare object of fascination that bridges the gulf between
science and mysticism, igniting the imaginations of folks from fringe
theorists and occultists to scientists and researchers to physicists. A
(00:45):
hundred and thirty seven is the approximate denominator of the
fine structure constant, which is the measure of the strength
of the electromagnetic force the controls how charged elementary particles
such as the electron and the muon interact with photons
of light. And we say approximate because it actually goes
on for a few decimal points. The exact value of
(01:05):
the fine structure constant is one over a hundred and
thirty seven point zero three five nine nine three. The
fine structure constant is one of the key physical constants
of the universe. Writing about it in a recent New
Scientist article, author Michael Brooks explained this immutable number determines
how stars burn, how chemistry happens, and even whether atoms
(01:28):
exist at all. Let's unpack all of that a little bit.
We spoke via email with Paul Davies, Regents Professor physics
at Arizona State University. He explained that the fine structure
constant quote characterizes the strength with which matter couples to light.
That is, the probability that an excited atom will decay
in a certain time. He said that if the constant
(01:50):
was bigger quote, Adams would decay faster. It is significant too,
because it is a pure number, he said, a ratio
of quantities with equal units, unlike say, the speed of light,
which is either a hundred and eighty six thousand miles
per second or three thousand kilometers per second, depending on
which units you prefer. British physicist Lawrence Eaves once explained
(02:10):
it this way. If the fine structure constant was a
different value quote, physics, chemistry and biochemistry would be totally
different and we might not be around to talk about it.
But practically, from the time of its discovery in nineteen
fifteen by German physicist Arnold Summerfeld, the fine structure constant
seemed to signify some larger metaphysical truth as well. We
(02:32):
spoke with Arthur I. Miller, and emeritus Professor of History
and Philosophy of Science at University College London. He said
that the fine structure constant quote, determines the distance between
an atom's spectral lines, which are the Adam's DNA, and
so it's one of those numbers that is at the
root of the universe. If it were any other value
than the structure of matter would be very different, and
(02:53):
so us too. People began referring to it as a
mystical number. He continued the language of the spectra, the
spectral lines, where Somemrfeld found it is a true music
of the spheres within the atom. People asked why it
has this particular value. Physicists could only conclude that it
cannot have this value by accident. It is out there
(03:15):
independent of the structure of our minds. But in nineteen
twenty nine, English astrophysicist Arthur Eddington, who played a key
role in establishing the validity of Albert Einstein's general theory
of relativity and was an early advocate of the Big
Bang theory, among other things, began expressing the fine structure
constant as one over a hundred and thirty seven. He
(03:36):
also saw it as having larger spiritual implications. Miller said,
Arthur Eddington saw a new mysticism which would emerge from
the natural sciences. Perhaps he thought the clue lay in numbers,
particularly the number one thirty seven. Eddington's reputation as one
of the great astrophysicists of his day put a great
deal of weight on this approach. Physicist Richard Feynman predicted
(03:58):
that the periodic table would end at one thirty seven
based on the rules of relativity, and Austrian born quantum
physics pioneer Wolfgang Paully became fascinated with the number as well,
since it figured in the mysterious intersection of relativity and
quantum theory that he explored with the help of his
friend psychoanalyst Carl Young. The scientific fixation on the fine
(04:19):
structured constant was such that in nineteen thirty six, Nature
published an article titled the Mysterious Number one seven. But
as Polly learned in the nineteen fifties from a religious scholar,
A hundred and thirty seven has another significance. It was
the number associated with the Kabbalah, an esoteric form of
Jewish mysticism, what Miller calls quote an extraordinary link between
(04:41):
mysticism and physics. The number A hundred thirty seven also
appears frequently in the Torah. It's the lifespan in years
of figures such as Ishmael and Levy, for example, as
well as the age of Abraham when he bound his
son Isaac to an altar in preparation to sacrifice him.
Author Billy Phillips, writing for kabbala student dot com, explained
that beyond that, the relationship of the fine structure constant
(05:04):
to light in physics parallels the combolists concept of connecting
with light or becoming enlightened by shedding the ego. Phillips
put it this way, the missing puzzle piece for physics
is consciousness. Today's episode was written by Patrick J. Tiger
and produced by Tyler clang. To learn more about the
(05:26):
number A hundred thirty seven, check out Miller's book seven
Young Polly and the Pursuit of a Scientific Observation, and
of course, for more on this and lots of other
articles that attempt to explain life, the universe, and everything,
visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.
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