The Number of Life
Optics & Photonics Focus
Volume 15 Story 8 - 14/12/2011

Constants of Nature

Constants of Nature have long fascinated scientists and philosophers alike. What is the reason behind their numerical values? The speed of light (which physicists familiarly call c) is 299 792 458 meters per second, the charge of the electron (e) is 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 160 217 656 5 coulombs, the Planck constant (h) is 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 662 606 957 Joules times seconds. Certainly, the logic behind these numbers is not what strikes us at first glance. In fact, generations of great scientists have racked their brains looking for any indications of regularity, for any signs of an underlying logic, for any evidence of a set of principles from which these numbers could have been derived. Unfortunately, all efforts have, to date, been unfruitful.
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Constants of Nature. Constants of Nature have long fascinated scientists and philosophers alike. What is the reason behind their numerical values? The speed of light (which physicists familiarly call <i>c</i>) is 299 792 458 meters per second, the charge of the electron (<i>e</i>) is 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 160 217 656 5 coulombs, the Planck constant (<i>h</i>) is 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 662 606 957 Joules times seconds. Certainly, the logic behind these numbers is not what strikes us at first glance. In fact, generations of great scientists have racked their brains looking for any indications of regularity, for any signs of an underlying logic, for any evidence of a set of principles from which these numbers could have been derived. Unfortunately, all efforts have, to date, been unfruitful.