BOUNDARIES OF COSMOLOGY
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Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Status: [STAT]
Document Date: 01 Aug 90 Category: [CAT]
Report Type: JPRS Report Report Date:
Report Number: JPRS-UKO-90-015 UDC Number:
Author(s): Leonid Grishchuk, doctor of physical and mathematical
sciences, chief of department, State Astronomy Institute
imeni P.K. Shternberg]
Headline: Boundaries of Cosmology
Source Line: 915B0001I Moscow KOMMUNIST in Russian No 12, Aug 90
(signed to press 1 Aug 90) pp 81-89
Subslug: [Article by Leonid Grishchuk, doctor of physical and
mathematical sciences, chief of department, State Astronomy
Institute imeni P.K. Shternberg]
FULL TBBT OF ARTICLE:
1. [Article by Leonid Grishchuk, doctor of physical and mathematical
sciences, chief of department, State Astronomy Institute imeni P.K.
Shternberg]
2. [Text] For many decades, scientific policy in our society has
suffered distortions and deformations, t e orm ex reme man-ifesta on
of which was the persecution not only of individual scientists, but
also of entire scientific fields. To make up for this, there was no
shortage of optimistic forecasts and expectations that science would
become a direct production force and, when this happens, would
scatter benefits as though from the horn of plenty.
3. Today, we are realizing our lag behind the world level in a
number of directions of basic research, the loss of interest in the
achievements of various areas of knowledge, the spread of a skeptical
attitude toward scientists, who are forced to substantiate the need
to develop science via references to the fact that its current level
determines tomorrow's equipment, technology and material progress.
Recently, there was talk of a need to stop financing space research.
It was saved by showing its contribution to the economy. Of course,
this utilitarian approach is in many ways stipulated by the labor
structure of our economy. However, we must not forget about the
influence that the advancement of knowledge has on man's intellectual
and cultural level. In the big picture, this is really the main
result of assimilating the achievements of scientific thought!
4. In turn, the attitude toward basic research and the understanding
of its role in social progress depend on the level of culture. In a
rule-of-law state, this dependency is obvious: the opinion of the
UNCLASSIFIED Approved or Release
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masses shapes scientific policy.
5. There are serious flaws precisely here. As experience with giving
popular lectures indicates, even in an environment of people with
higher educations, questions about "flying saucers," "space
aliens," etc. are most widespread. A segment of the audience
believes that basic science studies these things. Another
manifestation of the disoriented understanding of science's role and
place is the persistent call for its universal conversion to
cost-accounting. Here, it must be said that cost-accounting relations
in science are needed to some extent, yet they do conceal a threat to
basic research. Cost-accounting increases the priority of applied
development work, leads to an outflow of capable people and creates a
threat to basic work, which does not promise rapid application in the
economy. Such an approach could undermine society's intellectual
potential. To put it directly, basic science needs and will need
state protection and support in a social atmosphere which is
favorable toward its development.
6. Under this new situation, we cannot get by with just repeating
and illustrating the truth: science is useful. Broad discussion is
needed, not only on the problems of effective organization of
research and on the moral and social responsibility of scientists,
but also, probably, to illuminate the boundaries that have been
reached in our understanding of the surroun ng worl-..This was noted
at the 19th All-Union Party Conference. There is no shortage of
appeals for central publications to set aside more space for the
problems of science. However, the matter is at a standstill for the
time being.
7. These are the motives which direct me to talk about what the
Universe is, as well as about cosmology, the science of the Universe
and the subject of my own professional work. I am certain that there
is a deep general human interest in its structure, its past and its
future.
9. For more than 20 centuries, people put the Earth at the center of
the universe, surrounding it with immobile stars. The Sun and planets
were given a secondary role. It was believed that the Sun revolved in
strictly circular orbits around the Earth. It was hard for people to
become accustomed to the idea that the Earth is an ordinary planet.
10. The explanation of the motion of the heavenly bodies and even
the prediction of new planets in the Solar System was the triumph of
the Newtonian theory of gravitation. Later, the study of the stars
and star systems followed. The idea that the Sun is an ordinary star
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did not come easily either. Relatively recently, scientists presumed
that the Sun was located near the center of our star system, our
Galaxy, beyond the boundaries of which, possibly, there was nothing.
Nothing was known for sure about the existence of any formations
whatsoever beyond our own Galaxy. Only in the 1920s-1930s, thanks to
rapid progress in the development of observation equipment, was it
finally proven that there are a number of other stellar systems and
galaxies outside our Galaxy.
11. Approximately in these years, it was discovered that the Sun is
located in a by no means remarkable area, almost on the edge of our
own disk-shaped Galaxy. (Looking at its basic mass of stars at night,
we see the Milky Way in the sky.)
12. The understanding that things in space are not at all calm also
came with difficulty. The stars are moving within the galaxies, and
the galaxies are moving relative to each other. Explosive processes,
releasing a tremendous amount of energy, often occur in space.
13. In the area of space accessible to modern optical and radio
telescopes, many, many millions of galaxies are observed. Although
they differ in terms of form, mass, and star content, they can be
considered the basic structural units of the Universe. Galaxies are
combined into groups, accumulations and structures on an even greater
--
scale. In the distribution of a number of conglomera ons, Stretched
and flat elements are being discovered, as well as great empty spaces
where, with the achieved level of sensitivity of observation
equipment, no galaxies at all are visible. Graphically speaking, the
distribution of galaxies has a porous or net-like structure, i.e.,
the empty areas alternate with -walls" and "threads," where the
basic share of luminous matter is concentrated. The galaxies
themselves are fairly flat and distinctly outlined formations, but as
one moves to structures ever greater in scale, the outlines and
localization of these structures become ever more vague. There is no
designated place whatsoever in the distribution of these galaxies
that could be considered the center of the Universe, and there is no
designated direction whatsoever that could be considered an axis of
symmetry for the Universe. On this grounds, we say that the
observable Universe is homogeneous and isotropic.
14. The most distant of the observable objects is about 10 billion
light-years away us. It is several light-years to the closest stars
in our own galaxy. The intermediate distances could be described as
follows: the diameter of our galaxy is almost 100,000 light-years.
This number exceeds the distance to the nearest stars by a factor of
several tens of thousands, and our galaxy is not one of the smaller
ones. The dimension of the average concentration of galaxies is even
larger, by a factor of 100, and may exceed tens of millions of light
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years. The dimensions of.the most distinct details in the
distribution of "thread" type galaxies and of empty areas is
greater still, by a factor of 10 or several tens. However, the sizes
of these parts are nonetheless smaller by a factor of 50-100 than the
sizes of the entire observable part of the Universe. According to
existing data, the hierarchy of structures does not continue without
limit, but gradually disappears.
15. There are data about the possible existence of nonluminous
matter in the Universe, the so-called hidden mass. Its average
density may exceed the average density of luminous matter,
concentrated in stars and galaxies, by a factor of about 10. For the
time being, it is unknown in what form this matter (concealed mass),
which is hard to observe, exists and whether or not its spatial
distribution coincides with the distribution of galaxies.
16. It is an observed fact of great significance that the system of
galaxies is not static, but expanding. Of course, individual galaxies
and compact concentrations form stable gravitationally-related
systems and do not expand. The law of expansion is more clearly
established for the system of accumulations of galaxies. Usually, the
brightest members of these accumulations, usually located at the
center, and individual galaxies, which are not part of groups or
accumulations, are visible. The sum total of all such galaxies forms
a sort of grid, extending uniformly on al ndous----
number of observations, it follows that for any pair of such objects
the speed of their separation from each other is proportional to the
distance between them. We can at least apply this simple law to
galaxies for which the speed, entering into this correlation, is less
than the speed of light. For more remote objects, the effect of the
special and general theories of relativity are important and the
concepts of speed and distance require elaboration.
17. The coefficient of proportionality between the speed of
dispersion of galaxies and the distance between them is called the
Hubble constant. The inverse value has the dimension of time and is
called the age of the Universe. This name is used because, in flying
apart with a constant relative velocity, any pair of objects would in
this time manage to increase the reciprocal distance from zero to the
value now observed. According to contemporary data, the age of the
Universe is about 10-20 billion years. Independent estimates of the
age of individual astronomical systems are known: of the Solar
System, the stars, stellar concentrations, and galaxies. These
estimates are based on data about their relative content of different
chemical elements and on the theory of stellar evolution. The
estimated age of the Solar System is five billion years, and the age
of the oldest spherical stellar accumulations and, indirectly, of the
galaxies is 11-13 billion years.
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18. During expansion, the average density of matter decreases and,
consequently, it was denser and hotter in the pre-galactic epoch. It
is possible to say with certainty that 10-20 billion years ago the
Universe was not at all like that which we now observe. This
conclusion is persuasively confirmed by the existence of the
so-called relic radiation, discovered using radio telescopes in 1965.
It is distinguished from the radiation of isolated objects by the
fact that it comes not from separate sources, but from all
directions, uniformly filling the entire celestial sphere. Its
temperature is about three degrees on the absolute scale. The
properties of this radiation are identical everywhere, regardless of
at which point in the sky the instruments are aimed. Only slight
variations in temperature have been discovered, on the level of a
tenth of a percent, caused by the movement of the Sun and Earth
relative to the background of this radiation. In the direction in
which the Solar System is moving, the temperature is slightly
greater, and in the opposite direction--slightly below average. The
relic radiation could not have been created by the activity of
individual stars and galaxies, but remains as a trace (relic) from
the pre-galactic epoch. In this epoch, the average density of matter
was greater by a factor of billions, and the temperature of radiation
was greater than it is now by a factor of a thousand.'During the
expansion of pre-galactic matter, the relic radiation cooled down and
its temperature decreased to the value now obser-ve~ic Dina to ---
gravitational instability, slight heterogeneities developed in the
matter itself, which finally led to the formation of separate objects
and the now-observed structures in the distribution of galaxies and
conglomerations of them.
19. The idea that pre-galactic matter was quite homogeneous is
confirmed by the high degree of similarity of the temperature of the
relic radiation on all angular scales. It should be recalled that
light and radio waves, which give the basic observational information
about the Universe, travel at a finite velocity, the speed of light.
Therefore, the further away their source is located, the earlier the
stage of existence at which we see it. To put it figuratively, in
observing a source, far from us at a great distance, we are looking
into the past. Relic radiation covers tremendous distances, spreading
virtually without absorption or dispersion. It actively interacted
only with the primary pre-galactic plasma, after which it began to
spread freely. If there had been significant variations in density
and temperature in pre-galactic matter, right now the observed
temperature distribution would be heterogeneous and "spotty."
20. Yet another set of observed information, an important component
part of our concepts about the contemporary and early Universe,
concerns the chemical make-up of the matter surrounding us. The most
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common element is hydrogen. It makes up about 75 percent of the
overall mass of matter. Virtually all the rest is helium. The
numerous light and heavy elements encountered in nature are
represented only in parts of a percent. Altogether, they barely
contribute two percent to the overall mass of matter. From this point
of view, planets and life on them, built out of heavy elements, are
an extraordinarily great rarity.
21. Elements from carbon to iron arise as a product of thermonuclear
reactions in the cores of stars during the calm stage of their
evolution. The heavier elements are formed during supernova-type
explosive processes. As the result of the explosions of massive
stars, rapidly ending their evolution, various chemical' elements
enter the interstellar gases.
22. Helium and certain other light elements have pre-stellar
origins. This follows from the fact that, during the entire existence
of the Galaxy, only roughly 15 times less helium, than that which is
in fact observed, could have appeared. The required quantity of
helium could easily have been formed in the epoch of so-called
primary nucleosynthesis, when the density of pre-galactic matter
reached values typical of the density of nuclear matter. Let us
recall that relic radiation began to spread freely about 10-20
billion years ago.
23. Theory and Extrapolations
24. The basic physical theories form the theoretical foundation for
cosmology. Historically, the concept of a nonstationary universe was
first suggested by our fellow countryman A.A. Fridman, even before
experimental evidence of the phenomenon of "dispersion" of
galaxies. In his theoretical works, A.A. Fridman proceeded from the
simplest assumptions about the homogeneity and isotropy of the
continuous distribution of matter with a positive density and a very
slight pressure. Using the equations of A. Einstein's relativistic
theory of gravitation, A.A. Fridman proved that the corresponding
solutions mandatorily depend on time. It was not immediately
realized that the non-stationary nature of such systems is completely
natural and inevitable. It is identically warranted both in
relativistic theory, as well as in the usual Newtonian theory of
gravitation. In the absence of decreases in pressure or any other
forces capable of opposing gravity, no ordinary substance can be
eternally in a state of rest. Depending on initial conditions, it can
either slowly expand or contract. The final fate of an expanding
gravitational system depends on whether the average density of matter
is great enough that the forces of gravity will slow down the
expansion and, in the future, turn expansion into compression. If the
average density of matter is greater than a certain value, called the
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critical value, expansion will be replaced by compression: otherwise
it will continue without limit. Obviously, the critical value of
density is determined by the rate of expansion and is expressed in
the Hubble constant. According to contemporary data, the average
density of all types of matter (including the hidden mass) in the
observed Universe is close to the critical value.
25. The averaged, smoothed-over distribution of matter of the
galaxies in the observed Universe is well described by Fridman's
cosmological solutions and Fridman's models. Why we are observing
precisely expansion, and not compression, is a separate question,
which cosmologists are now examining.
26. According to Fridman's solutions, it is possible to calculate
the course of the change in both density and temperature in the
future, as well as in the past. Using these calculations, G. Gamov
designed a theory of primary (pre-stellar, pre-galactic)
nucleosynthesis and predicted that the contemporary Universe ought to
be full of electromagnetic radiation at a temperature of about six
degrees. Although the actual discovery of three-degree (relic)
radiation occurred accidentally, beyond any connection to G. Gamov's
prediction, in principle its existence was expected. Interpretation
of the relic radiation has not caused serious difficulties, the more
so since the actual value of the temperature does not differ too
greatly from the predicted value.
27. The successful prediction of the relative content of chemical
elements, coinciding with the content actually observed, also relies
considerably on the laws for the change of density and temperature
with time. In turn, these laws on the whole depend on the forces of
gravity, since precisely gravity determines the behavior of large
masses of matter. Thus, gravitation field theory plays an important
role in cosmology.
28. It is possible to roughly describe the volumes of the Universe
with small dimensions using ordinary classical mechanics and the
Newtonian theory of gravity. However, for distances comparable to the
scale of the observable Universe, the Newtonian theory is not
suitable. Cosmology has to be relativistic and relies on the
conclusions of the special and general theories of relativity. Here,
the concepts of time and space hold an especially important place.
29. The special theory of relativity has changed the old concepts of
pre-relativistic physics concerning time and space. Absolute time,
"flowing uniformly and independent of anything external," turned
out to be overly idealized. According to the special theory of
relativity, the judgments of observers about the interval of time and
the segment of distance. between one and the same pair of events
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depends on the movement of the observers. For different observers,
the time intervals and segments of distance between one and the same
pair of events, generally speaking, are different. There is no one
correct set of values whatsoever: all sets of values are right, and
each of the observers is correct to an equal extent. Only a certain
combination, consisting of the time intervals and segments of
distance, remains identical for all. Therefore, it is said that
unified space-time has an independent value, but not time or space
separately. The change of views of space and time has occurred, in
part, because the procedure itself for measuring spatial segments and
time intervals has been analyzed.
30. The general theory of relativity, i.e., the relativistic theory
of gravitation, introduced even more cardinal changes in the concept
of space and time. Once again, certain questions hold an important
place in understanding it: Vhat, with what and how is it measured?
Observers who are resting with respect to each other, yet are located
in places where the gravitational field is different, will discover
by comparing their observations that the rate of flow of time for
them is different. Such conclusions also occur with regard to
segments of length. The conclusions of the general theory of
relativity conform quite well to all existing experimental data, both
under laboratory conditions, as well as in space.
31. Judgments about the geometric proper ffes o-f -a given sur ace are
made on the basis of correlations between segments of length which
connect points of this surface. Judgments about the geometric
properties of space-time are made on the basis of how the time
intervals and segments of length between events in space-time behave.
Since, in the presence of a gravitational field, length and durations
do not behave as they do in the absence of a gravitational field, the
geometric properties of space-time change. That is,,why the concept
of warped space-time, the idea of its curvature, atises. Giving a
detailed description of a gravitational field is the same as giving a
detailed description of the geometric properties of space-time.
32. In cosmology, the concept of warped space-time plays a central
role. In geometric terms, one could say that the cosmological model
in which the average density of matter is greater than the critical
value conforms to a closed space, similar to the surface of a sphere.
A model in which the average density of matter is less than the
critical value conforms to the so-called open or Lobachevskiy's
space. On the boundary between these two cases, i.e., in a situation
where the average density of matter equals the critical density,
there is a model where space has ordinary Euclidean geometry. As
already mentioned, the estimates of density in the observed Universe
give a value, close to the value of the critical density. For now, it
is impossible to choose between these three geometries of space. In
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any case, the definition of the geometry of space would be local in
nature, i.e., it would directly relate only to the observed part of
the Universe.
33. Pridman's cosmological solutions postulate homogeneity and
isotropy as universal and eternal properties. Direct observational
information about the Universe relates only to a limited area, both
in time, as well as in space. In the area encompassed by
observations, these properties really exist, although only with a
certain degree of precision. However, cosmology is interested in the
structure of the Universe on the whole, i.e., with the utmost
conceivable distances and time intervals. Therefore, extrapolations
are often used, true, inevitably of limited trustworthiness.
Nonetheless, in using the observational data and a theory, tested in
other observations and experiments, it is possible to draw meaningful
conclusions about epochs and areas of the Universe which are not
observed directly here right now. In this manner, for instance, we
succeed in drawing conclusions about the structure of the Universe on
scales exceeding its observable dimensions by a factor of 50-100.
34. On the grounds of this analysis, it can be claimed that on the
tremendous scales mentioned, inaccessible to contemporary
observations, the deviations from homogeneity and isotropy are not
overly great. More accurately, the relative deviations of all
cosmological values do not exceed one unit. On even greater as ec s,
it is no longer possible to say this. The above argument does not
rule out that the properties of the Universe on such great scales may
be considerably different. There are interesting theoretical
considerations to the effect that, on the utmost greatest scales, the
structure of the Universe may be extraordinarily complex. Even
violations of the properties of connection of space, the appearance
of differences in the dimensionality of space, a change in the
numerical values of fundamental constants, etc., are also not ruled
out. Although, at this level of knowledge these considerations are
highly hypothetical.
35. The question of the structure of the Universe on very large
scales is supplemented by the question of the properties of the
Universe at the very earliest stage of its evolution. The uncertainty
in the answer to this question partly relates to the fact that the
properties of matter under tremendous densities, exceeding nuclear
density by many orders, are unknown. It would be especially important
to clarify the amount and the sign of pressure in this matter. The
point is that pressure is capable of creating gravity, just the same
as it creates the energy density of ordinary matter. This is an
effect of the relativistic theory of gravitation: it does not exist
in the Newtonian theory. Under ordinary conditions, pressure is
insignificant and additional gravitational forces are small. In any
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case, pressure which is positive in sign can only slow the rate of
expansion through its gravitational influence. Given other identical
conditions, a gas possessing a high positive pressure will expand
somewhat more slowly than under conditions of the same energy
density, but less pressure. However, the situation changes
significantly if states of matter with negative pressure are
possible, moreover, great negative pressure in terms of the absolute
amount. Then, matter would expand not with deceleration, but with
acceleration.
36. Modern elementary particle theories predict that in the very
early Universe a state of matter with a negative pressure really
could have existed, and it would have been equal to the absolute
value of the density of energy. In this case, an accelerated rate of
expansion occurs, known as inflationary expansion. If such a stage
really occurred in the evolution of the very early Universe, it
explains several fundamental facts. Let us point out some them.
37. As already stated above, the temperature of the relic radiation
coming from different directions in the celestial sphere is identical
with great precision. This fact in itself is rather surprising.
According to the ordinary Fridman solutions, not involving the
hypothesis of an inflationary stage of expansion, the indicated
elements of the primary plasma would not be in a cause-effect
relationship to each other. No physical process what never-could
ensure the identical nature of conditions in these elements, yet*
nonetheless for some reason they had an identical temperature.
Therefore, one must assume that the initial conditions were such. The
inflationary expansion hypothesis offers a more natural explanation
for this fact. The entire volume of primary plasma could have
developed in the stage of accelerated expansion from matter, which
had occupied a small cause-effect area. In other words, the causal
connection between all elements of the primary plasma, now
observable, could have been established in the inflationary stage of
expansion. This makes the sameness of the observable temperature more
understandable.
38. Another advantage of the inflationary hypothesis relates to the
explanation of the origin of primary perturbations in the density of
matter. As already noted, in the pre-galactic epoch of expansion such
perturbations should have existed, so that in the future they could
lead to the observed objects and structures. In the usual approach,
the properties of such perturbations do not proceed from general
theory, but are postulated. In particular, the amplitude of
perturbations is selected such that we obtain the observed structure.
The inflationary hypothesis offers a more natural explanation. In the
inflationary stage, it turns out, perturbations could have developed
from inevitable fluctuations of a quantum nature. This decreases the
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number of necessary assumptions. Comparison of all conclusions from
such a concept to what is observed is one of the most actively
developing fields of cosmological research today.
39. Finally, the existence of a stage with a great negative pressure
gives hope for explaining cosmological expansion itself. As already
stated, at this stage the forces of gravitation accelerate expansion,
not slow it down. The gravitating system is brought from a state of
rest to one of expansion, not of compression.
40. The hypothesis of an inflationary stage of expansion is just one
example of the close intertwining between modern cosmology and modern
basic physics. The problems relating to the micro- and macro-world
connect into a unified set of problems. Possibly, here we must seek
an answer to the question of how the Universe was born. In recent
years, this has become the object of specific research.
41. There are at least two groups of ideas. First, there is a set of
theoretical and observational arguments supporting the idea that the
history of the Universe began from a kind of special state, not
subject to description within the framework of the classical
relativistic theory of gravity. Really, extrapolations of the
observed expansion into the past, according to ordinary Fridman
solutions, in the end lead to infinite values for all physical
quantities: density of energy, pressure, sera-in of- ie grav a onal----
field, etc. A state characterized by such values is called a
singularity. Classical concepts of length and duration no longer
apply for its study. This area of research has been singled out as an
independent discipline, quantum cosmology. Thus, a concept arises
about the quantum birth of a classical Universe and classical
space-time.
42. The second group of ideas relates to persistent attempts by
theoreticians to create a unified theory for all physical
interactions. The inclusion of gravitation in existing theoretical
schemes makes it necessary to involve complex theoretical
constructions, such as multidimensional spaces, super-symmetry,
super-strings, etc. It is important that, as for other fields,
quantum laws should form the basis for describing gravitational
.interaction. The classical gravitational field and the related
classical space-time are approximations, justifiable under certain
conditions.
43. Both above-mentioned groups of ideas are being actively
developed right now. In the first, the emphasis is placed on
cosmology; in the second--on microphysics. It may be possible that
the secret of the origin of the Universe will be discovered when both
approaches merge into one.
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44. The boundaries of the known and the hypothetical, which I have
tried to talk about, are very mobile. It is possible that tomorrow
they will be different: such are the rates of our renewal of
knowledge.
45. It must be said that research on the Universe has always been
accompanied by the appearance of questions, going beyond the
framework of cosmological science. Let us recall the fate of the
Dominican monk Jordano Bruno, burned at the stake by the Inquisition
in 1600. The mercilessness of the reprisals against him were not
immediately understood. After all, it would seem, the conflict was
based on highly abstract ideas about the infinite nature of space and
the multiplicity of habitable worldsl It is hard to establish the
connection to everyday life. Nevertheless, his opinions undermined
established concepts, sanctified by the Church. If the heretic was
not condemned, doubts would arise not only in the accepted picture of
the world, but also in the infallibility of the Church and power.
46. This tragic page of history illustrates the sharp world-outlook
and ideological struggle surrounding cosmological assertions, also
occurring in our time, for instance, surrounding the question of the
causes of a singular state (is this the work of God?). Man began to
think about the origin of the world long ago. The images from the
material culture of primitive societies aafes-tfo--tfiis- ----------
47. Mankind has been living in the space age, started by the flight
of Yu. Gagarin, for almost 30 years. We are seeing farther and we
know more, we are approaching a fundamentally new understanding of
the Universe that is now facing the "world of men." Researching it
requires the participation of representatives of almost all sciences,
including humanitarians. It is a question both of ensuring space
flights, as well as of resolving a whole number of fundamental
problems, for instance, the problem of the existence of non-Earth
civilizations. Certain experience in interaction and some practical
scientific experience has accumulated here. However, this is a topic
for yet another author.
48. COPYRIGHT: Izdatelstvo TsK KPSS ''Pravda'', " Kommunist" , 1990.