Can We Know the Universe?

Reflections on a Grain of Salt

by Carl Sagan
The following excerpt was published in Broca's Brain (1979)
"Nothing is rich but the inexhaustible wealth of nature. he shows us onl! surfaces" but
she is a #illion fatho#s deep." $ %alph &aldo '#erson
cience is a wa! of thin(ing #uch #ore than it is a bod! of (nowledge. )ts goal is to find out
how the world wor(s" to see( what regularities there #a! be" to penetrate the connections of
things$fro# subnuclear particles" which #a! be the constituents of all #atter" to li*ing
organis#s" the hu#an social co##unit!" and thence to the cos#os as a whole. +ur intuition is
b! no #eans an infallible guide. +ur perceptions #a! be distorted b! training and pre,udice
or #erel! because of the li#itations of our sense organs" which" of course" percei*e directl!
but a s#all fraction of the pheno#ena of the world. '*en so straightforward a -uestion as
whether in the absence of friction a pound of lead falls faster than a gra# of fluff was
answered incorrectl! b! .ristotle and al#ost e*er!one else before the ti#e of /alileo. cience
is based on experi#ent" on a willingness to challenge old dog#a" on an openness to see the
uni*erse as it reall! is. .ccordingl!" science so#eti#es re-uires courage$at the *er! least the
courage to -uestion the con*entional wisdo#.
Be!ond this the #ain tric( of science is to reall! thin( of so#ething0 the shape of clouds and
their occasional sharp botto# edges at the sa#e altitude e*er!where in the s(!1 the for#ation
of the dewdrop on a leaf1 the origin of a na#e or a word$ha(espeare" sa!" or
"philanthropic"1 the reason for hu#an social custo#s$the incest taboo" for exa#ple1 how it is
that a lens in sunlight can #a(e paper burn1 how a "wal(ing stic(" got to loo( so #uch li(e a
twig1 wh! the 2oon see#s to follow us as we wal(1 what pre*ents us fro# digging a hole
down to the center of the 'arth1 what the definition is of "down" on a spherical 'arth1 how it is
possible for the bod! to con*ert !esterda!'s lunch into toda!'s #uscle and sinew1 or how far is
up$does the uni*erse go on fore*er" or if it does not" is there an! #eaning to the -uestion of
what lies on the other side3 o#e of these -uestions are prett! eas!. +thers" especiall! the last"
are #!steries to which no one e*en toda! (nows the answer. The! are natural -uestions to as(.
'*er! culture has posed such -uestions in one wa! or another. .l#ost alwa!s the proposed
answers are in the nature of "4ust o tories"" atte#pted explanations di*orced fro#
experi#ent" or e*en fro# careful co#parati*e obser*ations.
But the scientific cast of #ind exa#ines the world criticall! as if #an! alternati*e worlds #ight
exist" as if other things #ight be here which are not. Then we are forced to as( wh! what we
see is present and not so#ething else. &h! are the un and the 2oon and the planets
spheres3 &h! not p!ra#ids" or cubes" or dodecahedra3 &h! not irregular" ,u#bl! shapes3
&h! so s!##etrical worlds3 )f !ou spend an! ti#e spinning h!potheses" chec(ing to see
whether the! #a(e sense" whether the! confor# to what else we (now" thin(ing of tests !ou
can pose to substantiate or deflate !our h!potheses" !ou will find !ourself doing science. .nd
as !ou co#e to practice this habit of thought #ore and #ore !ou will get better and better at
it. To penetrate into the heart of the thing$e*en a little thing" a blade of grass" as &alt
&hit#an said$is to experience a (ind of exhilaration that" it #a! be" onl! hu#an beings of all
the beings on this planet can feel. &e are an intelligent species and the use of our intelligence
-uite properl! gi*es us pleasure. )n this respect the brain is li(e a #uscle. &hen we thin( well"
we feel good. 5nderstanding is a (ind of ecstas!.
But to what extent can we reall! (now the uni*erse around us3 o#eti#es this -uestion is
posed b! people who hope the answer will be in the negati*e" who are fearful of a uni*erse in
which e*er!thing #ight one da! be (nown. .nd so#eti#es we hear pronounce#ents fro#
scientists who confidentl! state that e*er!thing worth (nowing will soon be (nown$or e*en is
alread! (nown$and who paint pictures of a 6ion!sian or 7ol!nesian age in which the 8est for
intellectual disco*er! has withered" to be replaced b! a (ind of subdued languor" the lotus
eaters drin(ing fer#ented coconut #il( or so#e other #ild hallucinogen. )n addition to
#aligning both the 7ol!nesians" who were intrepid explorers (and whose brief respite in
paradise is now sadl! ending)" as well as the induce#ents to intellectual disco*er! pro*ided b!
so#e hallucinogens" this contention turns out to be tri*iall! #ista(en.
9et us approach a #uch #ore #odest -uestion0 not whether we can (now the uni*erse or the
2il(! &a! /alax! or a star or a world. :an we (now" ulti#atel! and in detail" a grain of salt3
:onsider one #icrogra# of table salt" a spec( ,ust barel! large enough for so#eone with (een
e!esight to #a(e out without a #icroscope. )n that grain of salt there are about 1;
1<
sodiu#
and chlorine ato#s. That is a 1 followed b! 1< 8eros" 1; #illion billion ato#s. )f we wish to
(now a grain of salt we #ust (now at least the three=di#ensional positions of each of these
ato#s. ()n fact" there is #uch #ore to be (nown$for exa#ple" the nature of the forces
between the ato#s$but we are #a(ing onl! a #odest calculation.) Now" is this nu#ber #ore
or less than a nu#ber of things which the brain can (now3
>ow #uch can the brain (now3 There are perhaps 1;
11
neurons in the brain" the circuit
ele#ents and switches that are responsible in their electrical and che#ical acti*it! for the
functioning of our #inds. . t!pical brain neuron has perhaps a thousand little wires" called
dendrites" which connect it with its fellows. )f" as see#s li(el!" e*er! bit of infor#ation in the
brain corresponds to one of these connections" the total nu#ber of things (nowable b! the
brain is no #ore than 1;
1?
" one hundred trillion. But this nu#ber is onl! one percent of the
nu#ber of ato#s in our spec( of salt.
o in this sense the uni*erse is intractable" astonishingl! i##une to an! hu#an atte#pt at full
(nowledge. &e cannot on this le*el understand a grain of salt" #uch less the uni*erse.
But let us loo( a little #ore deepl! at our #icrogra# of salt. alt happens to be a cr!stal in
which" except for defects in the structure of the cr!stal lattice" the position of e*er! sodiu#
and chlorine ato# is predeter#ined. )f we could shrin( oursel*es into this cr!stalline world" we
would ran( upon ran( of ato#s in an ordered arra!" a regularl! alternating structure$sodiu#"
chlorine" sodiu#" chlorine" specif!ing the sheet of ato#s we are standing on and all the sheets
abo*e us and below us. .n absolutel! pure cr!stal of salt could ha*e the position of e*er!
ato# specified b! so#ething li(e 1; bits of infor#ation. This would not strain the infor#ation=
carr!ing capacit! of the brain.
)f the uni*erse had natural laws that go*erned its beha*ior to the sa#e degree of regularit!
that deter#ines a cr!stal of salt" then" of course" the uni*erse would be (nowable. '*en if there
were #an! such laws" each of considerable co#plexit!" hu#an beings #ight ha*e the
capabilit! to understand the# all. '*en if such (nowledge exceeded the infor#ation=carr!ing
capacit! of the brain" we #ight store the additional infor#ation outside our bodies$in boo(s"
for exa#ple" or in co#puter #e#ories$and still" in so#e sense" (now the uni*erse.
>u#an beings are" understandabl!" highl! #oti*ated to find regularities" natural laws. The
search for rules" the onl! possible wa! to understand such a *ast and co#plex uni*erse" is
called science. The uni*erse forces those who li*e in it to understand it. Those creatures who
find e*er!da! experience a #uddled ,u#ble of e*ents with no predictabilit!" no regularit!" are
in gra*e peril. The uni*erse belongs to those who" at least to so#e degree" ha*e figured it out.
)t is an astonishing fact there are laws of nature" rules that su##ari8e con*enientl!$not ,ust
-ualitati*el! but -uantitati*el!$how the world wor(s. &e #ight i#agine a uni*erse in which
there are no such laws" in which the 1;
@;
ele#entar! particles that #a(e up a uni*erse li(e our
own beha*e with utter and unco#pro#ising abandon. To understand such a uni*erse we
would need a brain at least as #assi*e as the uni*erse. )t see#s unli(el! that such a uni*erse
could ha*e life and intelligence" because beings and brains re-uire so#e degree of internal
stabilit! and order. But e*en if in a #uch #ore rando# uni*erse there were such beings with
an intelligence #uch greater than our own" there could not be #uch (nowledge" passion or
,o!.
Aortunatel! for us" we li*e in a uni*erse that has at least i#portant parts that are (nowable.
+ur co##on=sense experience and our e*olutionar! histor! ha*e prepared us to understand
so#ething of the wor(ada! world. &hen we go into other real#s" howe*er" co##on sense
and ordinar! intuition turn out to be highl! unreliable guides. )t is stunning that as we go
close to the speed of light our #ass increases indefinitel!" we shrin( towards 8ero thic(ness in
the direction of #otion" and ti#e for us co#es as near to stopping as we would li(e. 2an!
people thin( that this is sill!" and e*er! wee( or two ) get a letter fro# so#eone who
co#plains to #e about it. But it is a *irtuall! certain conse-uence not ,ust of experi#ent but
also of .lbert 'instein's brilliant anal!sis of space and ti#e called the pecial Theor! of
%elati*it!. )t does not #atter that these effects see# unreasonable to us. &e are not in the
habit of tra*eling close to the speed of light. The testi#on! of our co##on sense is suspect at
high *elocities.
+r consider an isolated #olecule co#posed of two ato#s shaped so#ething li(e a du#bbell
$a #olecule of salt" it #ight be. uch a #olecule rotates about an axis through the line
connecting the two ato#s. But in the world of -uantu# #echanics" the real# of the *er!
s#all" not all orientations of our du#bbell #olecule are possible. )t #ight be that the #olecule
could be oriented in a hori8ontal position" sa!" or in a *ertical position" but not at #an! angles
in between. o#e rotational positions are forbidden. Aorbidden b! what3 B! the laws of
nature. The uni*erse is built in such a wa! as to li#it" or -uantise" rotation. &e do not
experience this directl! in e*er!da! life1 we would find it startling as well as aw(ward in sitting=
up exercises" to find ar#s out stretched fro# the sides or pointed up to the s(ies per#itted
but #an! inter#ediate positions forbidden. &e do not li*e in the world of the s#all" on the
scale of 1;
=1B
centi#eters" in the real# where there are twel*e 8eros between the deci#al place
and the one. +ur co##on=sense intuitions do not count. &hat does count is experi#ent$in
this case obser*ations fro# the far infrared spectra of #olecules. The! show #olecular
rotation to be -uanti8ed.
The idea that the world places restrictions on what hu#ans #ight do is frustrating. &h!
shouldn't we be able to ha*e inter#ediate rotational positions3 &h! can't we tra*el faster than
the speed of light3 But so far as we can tell" this is the wa! the uni*erse is constructed. uch
prohibitions not onl! press us toward a little hu#ilit!1 the! also #a(e the world #ore
(nowable. '*er! restriction corresponds to a law of nature" a regulation of the uni*erse. The
#ore restrictions there are on what #atter and energ! can do" the #ore (nowledge hu#an
beings can attain. &hether in so#e sense the uni*erse is ulti#atel! (nowable depends not
onl! on how #an! natural laws there are that enco#pass widel! di*ergent pheno#ena" but
also on whether we ha*e the openness and the intellectual capacit! to understand such laws.
+ur for#ulations of the regularities of nature are surel! dependent on how the brain is built"
but also" and to a significant degree" on how the uni*erse is built.
Aor #!self" ) li(e a uni*erse that includes #uch that is un(nown and" at the sa#e ti#e" #uch
that is (nowable. . uni*erse in which e*er!thing is (nown would be static and dull" as boring
as the hea*en of so#e wea(=#inded theologians. . uni*erse that is un(nowable is no fit place
for a thin(ing being. The ideal uni*erse for us is one *er! #uch li(e the uni*erse we inhabit.
.nd ) would guess that this is not reall! #uch of a coincidence.
( :arl agan" ":an &e Cnow the 5ni*erse30 %eflections on a /rain of alt1" fro# Broca's Brain0 %eflections on the %o#ance of
cience" New Dor(0 %ando# >ouse" 1979" pp. 1B=1@. )
==
Aor#atE76AETorrent b! 6odecahedron (F;;9).