(February 24, 2018 at 4:11 pm)Jehanne Wrote:(February 24, 2018 at 3:47 pm)SteveII Wrote: What part of that was cherry picking?
1. The Cambridge University Conference or
2. The +Plus Mathematics Magazine and the article authors or
3. George Francis Rayner Ellis, FRS, Hon. FRSSAf (born 11 August 1939), is the Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Complex Systems in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He co-authored The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time with University of Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking, published in 1973, and is considered one of the world's leading theorists in cosmology.[1] He is an active Quaker and in 2004 he won the Templeton Prize.[2] From 1989 to 1992 he served as President of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation. He is a past President of the International Society for Science and Religion. He is an A-rated researcher with the NRF.
Perhaps I should have found someone who did not co-author a book with Hawking?
No one has claimed space in an actual infinite. It might be potentially infinite. Read the article.
Professor Ellis is outlier; most cosmologists are atheistic:
Why (Almost All) Cosmologists are Atheists
If the Universe is only a "potential infinite", then it may have an edge or boundary (it probably doesn't), a geographical center and, hence, a center of mass (again, probably not), but most importantly, at what "expense" is the Universe expanding into? Are there just layers of "potential infinities" that go on forever?? Sounds like an actual infinite to me! But, again, the FLRW metric (just Google) works just fine with actual infinities!
Textbook ad hominem attack. Who cares if he an atheist or not. We are talking about cosmology and mathematics--subjects he is super well qualified to speak about. One does not speak at conferences at Cambridge University by being an "outlier".
The universe may have an edge or not. Maybe it is curved around like a sphere. Who knows. You don't get to declare an actual infinite exists. The very laws of physics prohibit us from ever finding out. In addition, if the universe was bounded at one time (big bang/inflationary universe), then it could only be potentially infinite. It could never be an actual infinite.
