Philo Sofee wrote:In the Book
Science and Your Faith in God, Bookcraft, 1958 Henry Eyring, one of the cream of the crop LDS scientists said -
"The atomic bomb dramatically emphasized a fact discovered earlier in relativity theory and in laboratory experiments. This fact is that matter can disappear only to reappear again as energy. This liberalization in our conceptions regarding matter gives added significance to the doctrine that the spirit is composed of a refined kind of
matter." (p. 16)
What strikes me is this appears to be saying that energy is considered a "refined matter" and therefore is "spirit." Am I misunderstanding Eyring here? How can such a gifted scientists think this? I am missing something, and curious if anyone of you can point me to what I am misunderstanding here. Thanks.
Yup. It's simple nonsense.
And in any case this is a common misinterpretation of the implications of relativity theory. The familiar e = m*c^2 equation is not just about what happens when some matter disappears entirely, as, for instance, if a particle meets its anti-particle and mutual annihilation occurs.
It is about what happens to the mass of ANY isolated system if energy leaves the boundaries of that system. That is why it is often better to introduce it as an equation about changes in energy and mass, thus:
Δe = Δm*c^2 (Where the greek letter Δ 'delta' indicates 'a change in')
This applies in, for instance, the case where we have a substance which oxidises (burns) in a sealed container, thus producing a quantity of heat energy, Δe, which eventually leaves the system by conduction to its surroundings. The mass of the system will then decrease by an amount Δm, given by the above equation. Yet no matter has disappeared. All that has happened is that some of the particles (in this case electrons) in the sealed container have moved to a lower energy state as a result of the chemical changes that have occurred.
Since c = 3*10^8 m/s, c^2 is huge. Thus, for the energy Δe produced in normal chemical changes such as the one described here, Δm is so small as to be almost undetectable. So we usually forget about it, although it is there all the same.
Take away point: Since energy can be produced without the annihilation of matter, Eyring is talking nonsense.