THE CREATOR'S HANDIWORK: MATTER AND STARS

The Creator’s Handiwork

There is far more to the universe than hydrogen, spheres of gas, and arguments over senseless cosmology theories. There are also wonders. The universe around us was designed by a great Intelligence. Without careful planning nothing could hold together, nothing could exist.

1 - OUR AMAZING UNIVERSE

THE ELEMENTAL FORCES OF THE UNIVERSE—There are several basic forces in nature which would destroy the universe—or not let it form—were it not for the delicate balance between them.

"There is another aspect of modem astronomical discoveries that is, in my view, as remarkable as the evidence for the abrupt birth of the Universe. According to the picture of the evolution of the Universe developed by the astronomer and his fellow scientists, the smallest change in any of the circumstances of the natural work, such as the relative strengths of the forces of nature, or the properties of the elementary particles, would have led to a Universe in which there could be no life and no man."— *Robert Jastrow, "The Astronomer and God," in The Intellectuals Speak Out About God (1884), p. 15. [Jastrow classifies himself as an agnostic.]

1- Gravity. Gravity is the weakest force in the universe, yet it is in perfect balance. If gravity were any stronger, the smaller stars could not form, and if it were any smaller, the bigger stars could not form and no heavy elements could exist. Only "red dwarf" stars would exist, and these would radiate too feebly to support life on a planet.

All masses are found to attract one another with a force that varies inversely as the square of the separation distance between the masses. That, in brief, is the law of gravity. But where did that "2" [square] come from? Why is the equation exactly "separation distance squared"? Why is it not 1.87, 1.95, 2.001, or 3.378; why is it exactly 2? Every test reveals the force of gravity to be keyed precisely to that 2. Any value other than 2 would lead to an eventual decay of orbits, and the entire universe would destroy itself!

(Another example would be the inverse-square law, which was mentioned in chapter 1 in connection with the red-shift and the visibility of quasars. According to this law, light diminishes exactly according to the square of its distance from the observer; not 1.8, .97, or some other fraction, but exactly 2.)

2 - Proton to neutron ratio. A proton is a subatomic particle found in the nucleus of all atoms. It has a positive electric charge that is equal to the negative charge of the electron. A neutron is a subatomic particle that has no electric charge. The mass of the neutron must exceed that of the proton in order for the stable elements to exist. But the neutron can only exceed the mass of the proton by an extremely small amount—an amount which is exactly twice the mass of the electron. That critical point of balance is only one part in a thousand. If the ratio of the mass of the proton to neutron were to vary outside of that limit—chaos would result.

The proton's mass is exactly what it should be in order to provide stability for the entire universe. If it were any less or more, atoms would fly apart or crush together, and everything they are in which is everything!—would be destroyed. If the mass of the proton were only slightly larger, the added weight would cause it to quickly become unstable and decay into a neutron, positron, and neutrino. Since hydrogen atoms have only one proton, its dissolution would destroy all hydrogen, and hydrogen is the dominant element in the universe. A master Designer planned that the proton's mass would be slightly smaller than that of the neutron. Without that delicate balance the universe would collapse.

3 - Photon to baryon ratio —A photon is the basic quantum, or unit, of light or other electromagnetic radiant energy, when considered as a discrete particle. The baryon is any subatomic particle whose weight is equal to