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About this quote

What does it mean?
Our understanding of physics breaks down before the earliest moments of the universe.
In plain terms
Physics stops working at the very beginning of time.
What can you take from it?
Current science has limits at the origin of the universe.

Where it applies

  • cosmology
  • theoretical physics
  • science communication

Putting it to work

  • acknowledge scientific limits
  • study early universe models

Questions to consider

  • What lies before the Big Bang?
  • How do we test pre-physics?

Another view

New theories might eventually explain those earliest moments.

More from Joseph Silk

  1. The Infinite has to be a relative concept. Go any distance: an infinite space means that there is more to be explored.

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  2. Science is paramount, but presents no challenge to a creed that rests on faith-based belief.

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  3. The left hand of creation

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