Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Lotza Universes?

An infinite number of worlds was defended by Dominican monk Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), as the only way for God to exert his omnipotence (Giordano Bruno 1584). For this heretical view Bruno was burnt at the stake at the Market of Flowers in Rome in 1600.

An infinite number of worlds was defended by Princeton physicist Hugh Everett III (1930-1982), as the only logical consequence of interpreting the quantum wavefunction realistically (Hugh Everett 1957). For this heretical view Everett was burnt at the stake at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. (Although not in this universe.)

Currently in this universe the omnipotence of God and the reality of the wavefunction both remain matters of dispute. And via the magic of cyberspace, Giordano Bruno hath a blog.

["Giordano Bruno Burning" by Andre' Durand (2000)]

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