The foot is a limb that is not given much importance when compared to other vital organs such as the brain or heart. However, the foot is a very complex mechanical structure that is made of 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 muscles and ligaments. About a quarter of the bones in the human body and about a fifth of the joints are found in our two feet. That is why Leonardo da Vinci described the human foot as an engineering and artistic masterpiece.

A healthy person takes about 5,000 steps a day. Given a life of eighty years, a person takes about 150 million steps throughout their life. Assuming that each step is 75 cm, a person walks about 110,000 kilometers throughout his life. This corresponds to walking around the equator about 3 times. Apart from that, a typical person stands for around 2-4 hours a day. During all these activities, the human foot carries the entire body’s weight. In standing position, body weight is supported by two feet while activities such as walking and running are done by only one foot for a certain period of time. While standing, the feet carry 100% of their body weight, while walking, this rate rises up to 150%. While walking, the foot that needs to be lifted from the ground approaches the ground again with an acceleration in the same direction as gravity. Therefore, the impact force at the moment the foot touches the ground corresponds to 150% of a person’s body weight. In cases of severe effects such as running and jumping, this force easily increases up to 5 times the body weight and up to 10 times in some people. For a person weighing 70 kilograms, this force can be 105 kg (or about 1050 Newton) in walking, and easily 350 kg (or about 3500 Newton) in running or jumping. Assuming that a person walking for an hour takes 5,000 steps, the foot pulls a total of about 500 tons of load (5,000 steps x 105 kg). In running, this figure will increase approximately three times.

The foot has been created with a wonderful mechanical and construction design that is able to consistently sustain such high loads. The bones and muscles of the foot add two different belt designs to it. One of them, the structure called the longitudinal belt starts from the heel bone (calcaneus) and ends with its metatarsal bones (Figure 1). Some researchers claim that the long arch is divided into two parts as the inner (medial arch) and the outer arch (lateral arch). However, both structures resemble bridges built in arches. The second arch on the foot is called the transverse arch. This belt is perpendicular to the long belt from the right side of the foot to the left side and is shorter in length (Figure 2).

Therefore, the foot is a marvelous structure consisting of roughly two arches. This structure of the foot can be compared to arch bridges or a dam. The arch structure is known as the strongest structure against steep loads in construction areas due to the robustness of the designs against compression forces in cases of vertical loading. Therefore, hydroelectric dams are constructed in the form of arches or arcs in order to make the most resistant model against hydrostatic pressure.

The arch structure of the foot is very flexible and can also move up and down like a car suspension and acts as a shock absorption. If there was no such structure on the foot, the impact forces during walking and running activities would be higher and cause chronic foot pain. The flatfoot complication is a result of a damage in the arch structure in the foot which comes from birth or develops afterwards. Flatfoot patients are often unable to perform long-term activities and experience foot pain as well as complications in other organs of the body.

Our feet’s arch structure is not the only factor involved in shock absorption that is designed against mechanical forces. The layer of fat on the bottom of the foot also contributes to this process. In a healthy person, this fat layer, which has a height of 2.5 cm under the heel, drops to 5-7 mm in the front part of the foot. It also helps to distribute the vertical and horizontal forces caused by standing or walking evenly on the sole of the foot. At the same time, it serves as a source of heat insulation and helps protect our feet from hot or cold surfaces. In some diseases such as diabetes, in which this fat layer melts or decreases, wounds called foot ulcers can develop because the shock absorption and load distribution get damaged. Mechanical pressure is calculated by dividing the amount of mechanical force by the surface area on which it is applied, meaning that smaller surfaces areas are subjected to more pressure. This is why very tiny needles, despite weighing almost nothing, can pierce our skin and cause pain. Similarly, damage to the fat layer under the foot causes the forces applied under the foot to act on a limited surface area. For example, the reduction of fat in the area just below the heads of the metatarsal bones reduces the “cushioning” effect in this area and causes a pressure in high values. This extra pressure can cause tissue damage along with the aforementioned foot ulcers.

Such a situation that will cause pain in a normal person cannot be felt by many diabetics. If diabetes is not well controlled, neuropathy or a “lack of feeling” may occur as a complication. Dead nerve cells become unable to feel pain which can result in people not knowing about harm that is being done to their body. Diabetic patients who develop neuropathy would not feel fatty layer damage and accompanying high pressure values whereas a typical person normally would. Untreated foot ulcers can become infected and can turn into gangrene. Since the gangrenous foot has to be cut, diabetes unfortunately causes a large number of amputations. Such amputations are sadly quite frequent throughout the world due to diabetic neuropathy. Dr. Paul Brand, who studied diabetic foot ulcers, defined pain as a gift from God that no one wanted. Sometimes, what we do not like might be better for us (Qur’an 2:216); likewise, pain can cause a lot of trouble to people but it can also alert us of dangers and harm to our bodies.

Thus, foot care is very important in diabetics. The following three actions are recommended to patients; daily inspection of the foot; daily washing; and control of the inside of the shoes. The pest, pebble, or similar hard object in the shoe that can be very harmful for diabetics with loss of sensation would be removed this way. On the other hand, when such a hard object remains in the shoes, patients may step on them repeatedly without feeling it which will likely lead to an ulcer case.

With its pain that works like a health alarm, extraordinary mechanical loads it carries, heat insulation and shock absorbing features, the human foot is a wonder of art that calls for contemplation.

“I am an aerodynamicist. I ask myself, by subscribing to aerodynamicism and providing mechanical explanations devoid of conscience, am I committing a murder against air? What if the air’s motion is the embodiment of conscious acts with feelings?”

Have you ever thought of the mechanics of a murder? Yes, the mechanics of a murder! Given an object with 50 grams of mass at point A, with a velocity of 400 m/s, the time it takes to reach point B, which is 4 meters away, is approximately 10 milliseconds. When this mass reaches point B, it contacts a surface that can sustain a maximum of 90 m/s2 acceleration. Because the momentum of the 50 gram object is high enough to overcome this limit, it penetrates this surface. As it cuts through the target object, its kinetic energy is converted to heat. Eventually, the 50 gram object comes to a stop, but the path it has opened now becomes filled with a red-colored, non-Newtonian fluid whose density is 1060 kg/m3 and whose viscosity is 3.5 x 10-3 Pa.s. When this fluid flow stops due to a process called agglutination, or commonly known as clotting, the whole system achieves a steady-state behavior, i.e. all motions come to a halt.

“All motions come to a halt”: that is death. This explanation could be the murder of your parent who was assassinated while working for the good of your country, or your family members who were martyred during a war. And this scientific picture made of dead words cannot portray the love and sorrow gushing out of your eyes. But I can tell you where your love and sorrow can be found.

Loving means being vulnerable, and you know why? Because when you love someone, their presence stimulates the release of dopamine in your brain. Dopamine is the hormone that lowers the threshold of feeling pleasure and pain, thus you feel pleased and hurt more easily. Your emotional devastation is nothing but an accumulation of dopamine in your brain. Just wait until it diffuses completely. As the common wisdom says: time heals everything.

Loving also means bonding, and you know why? Because when you love someone, their presence stimulates the release of oxytocin in your body. Oxytocin is the hormone that accompanies the feeling of serenity while with your loved one. It also functions in pair bonding and fidelity. The terror in your mind and the brokenness in your soul in the aftermath of your loss is only a hunger for oxytocin.

What did you say? My explanations would not console you? See a psychiatrist and take some pills to balance your hormone levels. Don’t worry. Everything is going to be all right.

That’s Enough!

I cannot take it anymore. I can’t go on with my life when one side of my being is tortured by the other. Did you, too, feel tormented by the explanations I just told you? These words are coming from the cold chamber of science, where all emotions are to be kept dead-frozen. Isn’t it a murder in itself?

I am an aerodynamicist. Calling myself an aerodynamicist recalls an ideology that hasn’t been named, that doesn’t exist in encyclopedias: aerodynamicism. Aerodynamicism has its own dogmas, rules, methods. It tells you that air is just another fluid whose behavior can be studied through mathematics and experiments. So, I ask myself, by subscribing to aerodynamicism and providing mechanical explanations devoid of conscience, am I committing a murder against air? What if the air’s motion is the embodiment of conscious acts with feelings?

Perhaps I should listen to the air itself, instead of what others say about it. Maybe I should at least give air a chance to show me that it is actually alive, that it has emotions. So I stand atop a hill overlooking a bay. I keep silent, and try to remove the scientific knowledge that is clogging my ears. And I start hearing something:

It is the wind. As the air approaches my body, it slows down, forms a stationary layer right around my torso. Around this layer, it paces gradually towards my back. Behind my arms, it forms small vortices that are shed along with the wind. What I am hearing is actually the sound of the friction between my ear and the air. And the whistling sound is the vortex-shedding triggered by the separation of the air’s flow from the body’s surface. Hey, hey, hey… I thought I was listening to the air! This is not air! This is my self, forging mechanical shapes and passing them off as if they belong to air. If air has feelings, it must be very disappointed by my hypocritical pose of listening. I just invited it into my lungs for an intimate conversation, but I aborted that conversation with my scientific thoughts.

I should apologize. With my eyes closed and arms wide open, I allow my whole being to be embraced by air. “I am sorry. I hope I did not hurt your feelings. Are you crying?”

“Crying only ends with the act of shedding tears, but it starts long before when someone hurts the love inherent in creation. I am crying. I want to shed my tears, each like a galaxy, to the expanse of the universe till the end of time. Isn’t there someone out there to hear me?”

“Why do you feel so alone?”

“I feel alone because I am different. Although I visit many people and many places every day, it is a very routine interaction going on between me and everything else: mundane tasks to be performed without intimacy. Like the two parties in a business. Once the mutual interests are delivered, the relationship is over. No loyalty, no love. I imagine myself like a chunk of meat going through a meat grinder. This is a meaningless, merciless flow where your identity or existence means nothing special. So, why would I talk to those people about my private world anyway? Instead, just a few words about the weather…”

“I wish I could do something for you!”

“The Creator didn’t give me eyes so that I would embrace everyone, good or bad; so that every individual in this world is cared for. So, I would like to become friends and feel the warmth of their presence. Often I ask myself when they are going to notice that I am offering my love by hugging them. At least, I wish they saw my tears upon my separation from them…”

At first, I didn’t consider air as a living being! But now, I was learning that air was hugging me! And it was crying, too? Could the mechanical explanations be blinding me towards the reality behind the observations? If that were the case, the flow separation and vortex shedding were actually manifestations of melancholy. How is it possible that I am so distant to someone that is so close to me? My turbulence inside exhibited itself as a silence outside. At least, so, I thought. But I couldn’t be further from reality.

“I am used to this kind of silence. Despite their nonchalance towards me, I still care a lot about people. And using the subtle clues in their words and voices, I can penetrate into their psyche.”

Someone who knows me better than I? And I can’t even see that someone! When and how have I become its focus of attention?

“With their first breaths and cries in life, I start observing them from within.”

From within?

“With every breath, I become part of their souls, and with every utterance, I become part of their connections. Sometimes, I feel their inner pains through the trembling in their voices; the pains that they are ardently hiding even from themselves. As I leave them in that state, I break into a thousand pieces. But, the Creator made me invisible. So, none of what I learn about them is revealed to the eyes of strangers. Thus, I make a reticent confidant.”

I was totally conquered by these words. I found myself whispering “Not just reticent! You are a reticent and affectionate companion that anyone would like to have.”

“People live by breathing, and I breathe by loving; loving even if there is no reciprocity. As life goes on, I think about new people to be relieved of their pain, even if they won’t take me as one among them…”

“I love you air, I love you…”

How is uterus to be placed in the frontier abdomen?

In order for a baby to survive, a suitable space in which it will be fed and protected is necessary. Therefore, the uterus is in the best location as it is, and its equivalent cannot be maintained in the belly. Let us consider that births would really happen through the belly. If the uterus, where a baby develops in 40 weeks, were placed in the belly, then a set of problems would appear. The opening of the uterus would be turned toward the abdomen wall, and thus there would be no strong bonds to tie it up with the surrounding area. In this case we cannot place the intestines, mesenteric blood vessels, aorta, and the net of nerves in connection to them in any way. If the uterus were in the belly, it would unavoidably pressurize the stomach, liver, spleen, and other internal organs, as the mass inside a pregnant woman grew. This could obviously pose a lethal threat for both the mother and the baby.

How would the birth process begin?

If the uterus were anywhere else than its present position, it would contradict the physiology of birth. The fetus assumes three different positions along the developmental process: as it begins to be formed the head is up and the feet are down. At the sixth month, the baby assumes a horizontal position. When the birth draws near, feet and the hips are positioned on top and the head is turned downward, closer to the opening of the uterus. As the head gets closer to the opening, mechanical pressure increases. Thus, signals for the birth are sent to the brain so that the relevant hormone aid is sent in response. With the effect of the hormones, the uterus begins to contract in order to dispose of the being inside. As the opening of the uterus enlarges, the contractions increase. With its mechanical help, the sacro-coccigeal joint makes a 2-cm stretch to give way and with the support of the pubis bone in front, the birth is realized. If human birth was to occur through the belly, then how would the process—including the brain, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands—be triggered with mechanical pressure without the help of gravitation? If the uterus is placed inside the belly vertically, then a tube or similar opening is needed for a way out from between the legs. Even if there is mechanical pressure and the hormones to facilitate birth are secreted, then what way will the baby move? How can birth be realized through the soft-walled belly without any mechanical support at all? If human birth were possible through the belly without any support from the bones, the duration of birth would be much greater. In addition, as the size of the baby increased, a high positive pressure would be needed in order to balance the effect of gravity. However, the more a belly grows, the weaker its muscles become. If birth would ever be possible through the belly, then the mother would have to deliver her baby by lying prone in order to prevent the soft tissue to be torn. In addition certain flora (beneficial microorganisms) need to be placed to the birth channel in order to prevent relevant complications. Should the genital organ be transferred to the navel? For the best protection against complications, the baby’s head need to be in horizontal position as if it were swimming. The effect of gravitation applies different pressures on the baby’s head while the mother stands, sits, and lies in a supine position. In this case, by which force would the head be directed toward the opening in the frontal abdomen wall to start the birth process? The three different positions of a fetus along its development will never be possible in a uterus located in the belly. Then the fetus would dangle like a tree leaf under the effect of gravitation.

The easiness of normal physiological birth

A form of birth through the belly, a cesarean delivery is only realized in the face of certain anomalies. Although some women assume cesarean as a painless form of birth, findings adds to the cons of cesarean. Accordingly, rate of allergic asthma in cesarean-born children is found six times higher in comparison to others. It is thought that during normal birth, the baby receives some of the microorganisms on the mother’s genital organ and the immune system forms antidote against them, which provides protection against asthma.

Strapping up the uterus?

As the baby develops in a period which lasts more than nine months, the uterus gradually grows. In the mean time, it is necessary to fix the uterus with sound bonds so that it becomes resistible to shakes. Counting in both sides, 14 pieces of bonds fixes the uterus to the bones (ilium, ischium, pubis, sacrum) around the hips. Were the uterus to be in the belly, how could we find such sound structure to support the bonds?

To conclude, God Almighty could have created our body in a different form, and He would have shaped our anatomy accordingly, which would then provide the best means for an ideal birth. Thus, it is nonsensical to seek errors in our present biological makeup in order to dishearten the faithful in their belief. Leaving aside such speculations, one cannot help but admire the perfect arrangement in human anatomy when considered from the perspective of wisdom.

Arslan Mayda is a medical doctor at Sifa Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.

Conventional water and wind turbines cannot function properly in a whirling current; the working of turbines depends on the existence of a steady and regular flow. In order to be able to obtain energy from vortices, turbines would need to mimic the movements of fish, adjusting their position to the differing angles of flow. A mechanical device to be developed in this respect should perceive the angle of the current flow instantly and adjust itself accordingly.

Normally, wind turbines are set up in high and open places. However, in cities the eddies that are formed by winds moving around buildings and roofs prevent conventional turbines from working efficiently. In order to overcome this challenge, scientists are aiming to develop turbines that benefit from the dynamic principles apparent in the movement of fish, though without imitating the fish exactly. They hope that in this way it will be possible to produce energy from turbulent currents as well. The projects being devised aim to develop different types of turbines to work in air and water. The energy production of these turbines will naturally be relatively low in comparison to common wind turbines operating in strong winds. However, these new types will make it possible to produce energy from winds moving at less than 32 feet per hour, when conventional turbines do not function. So, the total annual energy they are expected to produce will be no less than the regular wind turbines. If scientists can successfully model the admirable engineering applied in the bodies of fish, they will be able to boost the efficiency of these devices dramatically.

Notes

1. For further information see Liao J. C. et al., “Fish exploiting vortices decrease muscle activity,” Science 302, 1566–1569, 2003.
2. Dabiri, J. O., “Renewable fluid dynamic energy derived from aquatic animal location,” Bioinspiration and Biomimetics 2, L1-L3, 2007.

The innovations implemented in nature have the potential to improve the way we do everything, from desalinating water, gluing things together, to streamlining cars. Where there is a design problem, there is a solution for it in nature created by nature’s Designer. We can distinguish the levels in biology that technology can be modeled after as i) mimicking the natural methods in the manufacture of chemical compounds to create new ones, and ii) imitating mechanisms found in nature. There are a few examples of biomimetic materials that are already part of our daily lives. Velcro, for instance, is a brand name of a fabric that consists of hook and loop fasteners used to connect objects. It was invented by Georges de Mestral, a Swiss engineer/inventor. The idea came to him after he took a close look at the Burdock seeds which stuck to his clothes and his dog’s fur on their daily walk in the Alps. He closely examined the hook-and-loop system that the seeds used under a microscope, and realized that the same approach could be used to join other things together. Velcro is commonly used in many different areas, such as in the automotive industry, clothing, shoe making, and for bringing rigid or soft surfaces together. The lotus, which possesses tiny wax crystals on the surface of its leaves, remains pristine and white, even in the midst of swampy, contaminant-rich conditions. For some, the lotus plant is even a symbol of cleanliness.

The lotus effect in material science is defined as the observable self-cleaning property found in the lotus plant. The characteristics of the lotus brought about a new application of biomimetics to the self-purification of surfaces, such as paints and roof tiles that maintain a clean surface like the lotus, by creating a surface that is similar to that of the lotus plants.1 The figure shows that dirt particles are unable to adhere to the paint and simply flow away with the rain. Everybody knows about the vivid colors of butterflies. But where does this color come from? One would naturally think that butterflies must use pigments, as in the paint industry. Actually, there are two fundamental mechanisms by which color is produced on butterfly wings. One leads to what we call ordinary color, and the second leads to the spectacular iridescent color. The ordinary color is due to the presence of chemical pigments, which absorb certain wavelengths and transmit or reflect others. The iridescent color is produced not by pigmentation, but by the interference of light due to multiple reflections within the physical structure of the material. The parts of a butterfly wing are shown in the Figure 3 in the following order, from left to right: Wing > Scales > Veins > Ridges. The size and periodicity of arrangement of the features on the wings causes interference with the visible light, creating color. Using this concept, structures and physical mechanisms that produce a shining color, like that found on the wings of butterflies, have been reproduced in carbon by an international team based at Allied Signal in Morristown, N.J. These highly periodically patterned novel carbon materials possess unique and potentially useful properties. 2 Another striking example that inspires design principles is the box-fish. These are rigid-bodied marine fish that live predominantly in shallow-watered, highly energetic, tropical reef environments. They are remarkably stable and agile swimmers.

They are able to maintain smooth swimming trajectories with minimal pitching, rolling, or yawing, even in highly turbulent waters. Moreover, they are capable of swimming rapidly (> 6 body lengths s-1), can spin around with a minimal turning radius, and can maintain precise control of their position and orientation.3 What applications could these types of properties be used for? In fact, one of the leading car manufacturers produced a bionic concept car that is based on the contours of the boxfish carapace and takes advantage of its drag reduction benefits. Not only the shape, but also the organizational composition of living organisms is highly advanced.

Therefore, great efforts are made to study and understand the formation of the hierarchical structures of these creatures. The shell of the abalone, for instance, is known for being exceptionally strong. It is made of microscopic calcium carbonate tiles that are stacked like bricks. Between the layers of tiles is a sticky protein substance. Even though calcium carbonate is one of the softest materials in nature, when the abalone shell is struck, the tiles slide, instead of shattering and the protein stretches to absorb the energy of the blow. Material scientists at the University of California, San Diego are studying the tiled structure for insight into stronger ceramic products, such as body armor. Researchers at Princeton, working on a grant from NASA, are analyzing the remarkable strength of abalone shells to help make impact-resistant coatings for thermal tiles. There are numerous groups that are working towards a better understanding of the structure and the governing mechanisms involved in the assembly of natural composite systems that have amazing mechanical properties. In synthetic composite structures, the hardness of the material is proportional to the inorganic/mineral content. However, there are striking examples of design in nature in which almost negligible amounts of minerals are used in a specially tailored environment, and very high levels of hardness, comparable to human dentine, can be achieved. An interesting example is sea-worms. Although mainly consisting of soft tissue, these worms have very hard jaws that have an exceptionally low amount of inorganic consistency. The jaw material is of particular interest because of its hard, lightweight and abrasive-resistant properties due to some gradient elements. The chemical surrounds and forms of these elements are not clear enough to be able to identify or mimic the arrangement/structure. These jaws, in addition to their extraordinary mechanical properties, are very good examples of natural gradient materials that have a perfect interface between the hard and soft tissues. Although many high-tech analysis techniques have been devised to understand how such a composite could be formed, particularly in highly unfavorable salty sea or ocean water, and how they have such great mechanical strength, the findings are still incomplete.

The information gathered is like the scattered pieces of a puzzle; to finish the puzzle, the missing pieces must be found with new advancements in analytical tools. What about mussels then? “If we have Batman and Spider-Man, why don’t we have any mussel super heroes?” asks Professor Herbert Waite of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mussels may not be the biggest or the flashiest creatures in the sea, but they do one thing exceedingly well. They make a glue that lets them anchor themselves firmly to a rock and remain there-drenched by water, buffeted by the ocean’s waves. “I don’t know any other adhesive that can do that,” says Waite.6 Not only the glue, but the threads they make to attach themselves to the rocks are very significant in terms of both their composition and complexity, according to Niels Holten, who is conducting research on these systems at the University of California, Santa Barbara. These threads can elongate and relax with extraordinary mechanical flexibility under great impacts from ocean waves. The Waite group research on these thread cuticles reveals a very important aspect of material science, the significance of which has only very recently been understood: interface engineering. These threads have a very low amount, ca. 1-2 wt%, of metal ions in a polymeric matrix holding together large polymeric chains, which is possibly what gives the structure its flexibility and extensibility. Man-made structures cannot compete with the mechanical performance of these threads, especially at such a low volume of metal ion ingredients.

The ultimate goal of ongoing research is to understand the formation principles of these features so that similar structures can be made, using the same set of principles in laboratory conditions. In fact, the perfections of designs that are implemented in nature turn out to be an enormous fountain of ideas. Jewel beetles, which lay their eggs in freshly charred trees, can detect fires from miles away; the defense industry is studying these beetles for clues to design new low-cost, military-grade infrared detectors. Meanwhile, one of the leading car manufacturers is tapping the locusts’ famed ability to fly in dense swarms without colliding for a possible key to anti-collision devices in cars. And the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding development of a robot that can climb vertical surfaces, using the same principle that geckos use to walk up walls and saunter upside down across ceilings. There are several examples that could be given on this matter, but, due to limited space, we can only briefly summarize some of them. However, our understanding of the mechanism in nature is very limited, and it is expected that better insight will be gained with the advancement of available analytical tools. The great diversity of product designs in nature is produced from only a few common components, whereas we use a great number of materials and components to achieve new designs. Such high control and hierarchy in design in nature can only be attributed to an artist or designer who hides the perfection of his creation in the details. It is up to us to find out, see, and appreciate these perfections. Material scientists, of course, have the duty of transferring the findings from nature for the service of humankind by turning them into applicable forms in our daily lives.

Notes

1. Lotusan Paints. (2002). Retrieved 12 Nov, 2003, from http://www.lotusan.de Translated by http:// www.google.com.
2. Anvar A. Zakhidov et. al., Science, 282, 897 (1998).
3. URL: http://www.gharib.caltech.edu/bioinspired_ design/index.html
4. http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0-5-7154-1-503504-1-0-0-503518-0-0-135-7145-0-0- 0-0-0-0-1.html
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abalone#_note-0
6. Anne Underwood, “Nature’s Design Workshop,” Newsweek, U.S. Edition, September 26 (2005).

“Ever since the beginnings of modern science, four or five hundred years ago, scientific thoughts seem to have moved humankind and consciousness further from the centre of things. More and more of the universe has become explicable in mechanical, objective terms and even human beings are becoming understood by biologists and behavioral scientists. Now we find that physics, previously considered the most objective of the sciences, is reinventing the need for the human soul and putting it right at the centre of our understanding of the universe!” (Rae 2004)

The last century has witnessed a new scientific approach with the development of the quantum theory. The theory has been tested to such a degree that it has become the scientific theory on which the most experiments have been carried out of all time. Probably this is partly due to the fact that it is the most mind-provoking theory to date. Nevertheless, the new theory has passed all these tests and has been confirmed as being more complete in explaining the cosmos than any previous theory. The quantum theory has shown that the old approach of a mechanical universe was an oversimplification employed to explain the physics of the universe. One of the most important consequences of this is that the quantum theory refutes the main foundations of positivist philosophy. This philosophy sees the universe consisting of what we can observe or measure, with everything beyond not being real. This denial also applied to knowledge that came from religions, and this resulted in the present conflict between religion and science. However, today even modern science says that the universe cannot be limited to what we observe. The very basic principles of quantum physics show the possibility that the vast majority of life or the states of life are beyond the scope of our observations and that we have no way of knowing about them via physical means.

Although positivist philosophy dates back to the 16th century, it was August Comte who defined it in a systematic way in the mid-19th century. The Harper-Collins dictionary defines Positivism as “the view that all true knowledge is scientific.” Positivism includes the view of reductionism which claims that everything in the universe, including astrophysical systems, complex biological systems, social movements, cultural values, and belief systems can all be reduced to simple physical and chemical events. Probably one of the most unfortunate outcomes of this approach was the questioning of belief systems with the tools of the scientific method. In one of his articles Fethullah Gulen says:

“The massive influence of positivism and materialism on science and on all people of recent centuries makes it necessary to discuss such arguments. As this now-prevalent “scientific” worldview reduces existence to what can be perceived directly, it blinds itself to the far vaster invisible dimensions of existence.”(Gulen 2006)

Such arguments against religion that spring from materialism have gone worldwide, and all religious faiths have been questioned. Even the faithful has been confused by these arguments, consciously or unconsciously. Although scientific knowledge should be only one source of knowledge, it was considered to be the only source. In Huston Smith’s words, this was a “blank check” to science to make decisions (Smith 2001).

It should be clarified that the early founders of both classical and modern physics did not perceive science in a positivist way. Copernicus and Newton at the birth of classical physics and Einstein, Dirac, and Planck at the birth of modern physics, all had religious convictions and envisioned science as a part of knowledge. Einstein was even accused of being a theologian in disguise by some scientific historians. It was the positivist philosophy which took advantage of the scientific developments and used it against religion, resulting in the apparent conflict today. However, new developments in science have proven that the basic assumptions of positivism are no longer valid from a modern perspective. Thus positivism should be nothing but an outdated ideology.

From quantum physics to metaphysics

Quantum mechanical behavior emerges when one observes phenomena at microscopic scales. One of its novelties can be seen in that it offers a more comprehensive atomic model. The new atomic model has very important applications to our life, ranging from making lasers to producing computer chips. The early understanding of an atom was that there was a nucleus at the center and electrons circulating around it, like in the planetary systems (the Bohr model). Although this was a great achievement at the time it was proposed, later scientists realized that classical physics cannot explain the circulation of the electron around the nucleus. In such a model the electron should lose energy and eventually collapse into the nucleus.

In the quantum mechanical definition the electron is more like a wave around the nucleus than a particle. So the electron is not really a particle orbiting around the nucleus, but rather more like a cloud that is spread evenly around. Sometimes the electron is called a particle because it acts like a particle in some experiments. As seen in this example, in a quantum mechanical measurement we cannot find an answer to “what the electron really is,” but rather we find an answer to “how it responds to a particular setup.” The actual stuff is a neither a particle nor a wave. We are rather measuring one form of its behavior which is compatible with our experimental system. Then according to the quantum theory, there is no a way to completely understand this actual stuff with measurements.

Above we gave the famous measurement problem, which forms the heart of the quantum theory. Although what we are dealing with looks like a physical problem, “the measurement problem” has far reaching philosophical consequences. The basic problem is that we need to know what this actual stuff looks like so that we can have an answer to the question of “what it really is.” However, any explanation should be able to explain the transition from a quantum physical system into the macroscopic system in which we live so that we can have a meaningful model. Otherwise, paradoxes are inevitable (you can read about the famous Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment if you are interested.)

The most complete and satisfying answer comes from the Copenhagen interpretation (Frayn 2000). It was proposed by Neil Bohr, one of the prominent figures in the development of the theory. Debates lasting for months or longer, especially between N. Bohr and A. Einstein, ended up with the victory of Bohr’s ideas. According to the Copenhagen interpretation, the actual stuff is neither a wave nor a particle but is something not physical; rather it exists only in knowledge. This knowledge collapses into a physical state when somebody measures it. So the new theory suggests a very abstract approach to the universe as opposed to the old mechanical model. The famous astrophysicist Sir James Jeans wrote,

“The stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the Universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Human mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter.” (Jeans 2002)

Scientists think that the true picture of the actual stuff can never be completely understood in this physical universe because we are limited by our physical tools. There may be other states, but we have no tools to understand them or get to know about them since we are limited by the tools of this universe. This is the point where the new physics talks about other dimensions which are beyond the observable and measurable universe. But this is exactly what philosophy calls “metaphysics.” So we see that the new physics not only accepts the existence of other metaphysical realms, but it even says that they must exist for completeness!

The necessity of human consciousness

A concern comes to mind about what is unique in this measurement process that results in the ultimate transition from a knowledge system into a physical system. How can the detector in an experiment result in this transition? The answer from the Copenhagen interpretation is very surprising. The detector cannot be the cause for this transition, because it does not make any changes in the system before or after the measurements are carried out. That is, these tools we use to make the measurements do not change anything in the nature of the system. Not even the eyes of the observers or the brain that is making this measurement can do this, as they are no different than the experimental apparatus, except that they are more complex. They are just part of the experimental system in this chain, like mechanical detectors. The chain continues until it ends up in the human consciousness, which is something non-material as any physical identification would put it in the same category as the previous members of the chain. Then the unique role of the human action enters the system; measurement is part of the knowledge in the mind. With this measurement, the human consciousness becomes aware of it. This is the unique property that the human being has which cannot be attributed to any other objects and it plays a central role in the interpretation of the quantum theory.

We infer that human consciousness is something immaterial and behaves quite differently than any other entity in the universe. Interestingly, the distinction of the physical and spiritual side of human beings is found in the teaching of religions, which we now see in the context of modern physics. This is a very important reconciliation between science and religion and it is also reassuring that we are not like any other objects in the universe!

Is materialism coming to the end?

With the new developments in physics, a materialistic worldview seems to be a simple look at life and existence. We remember the classic statement of materialistic philosophy “I only believe what I can see or measure in the laboratory.” Quantum physics would respond to this by saying: “it is not that simple!” We see that there are no contradictions between the new physics and the teachings of religions. We do not know how God creates life in hereafter, hell, and heaven. But one thing we do know is that their existence does not contradict the modern scientific worldview. Also the realms of invisible creatures (like angels and the devil) and their interactions with our physical world cannot be understood with science. Modern physics says we should not seek knowledge of these through science. They can only be known by what is told to us in our holy books and by the prophets.

The extreme approach of materialism to the human being is that the human is the most complexly evolved biological mechanism in the universe and in theory its consciousness and other feelings can be reduced into chemical reactions. This approach is in complete contradiction with modern physics. Modern physics says the human being is totally distinguished from other beings with their non-material consciousness. So we see that modern science removes the human being from the ignorance of materialism and puts it into the center of the universe. This is the same thing that religions have been saying since the creation of Adam and Eve!

As people of the 21st century, we can see that the discoveries of modern science does not contradict faith. We see that modern science is widening its horizons by identifying metaphysics as being part of the reality. In the words of the 20th century scholar Said Nursi, “…the light of conscience is religious sciences. The light of the mind is modern sciences. Reconciliation of both manifests the truth. The student’s skills develop further with these two (sciences). When they are separated, from the former superstition and from the latter corruption and skepticism is born.” A similar statement by Einstein is “…I cannot conceive of a genuine scientist without that profound faith. The situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

References

• Rae, Alastair. Quantum Physics: Illusion or Reality, Cambridge: 2004.
• Gulen, M. Fethullah, Questions and Answers about Islam, The Light, Inc., NJ: 2006.
• Smith, Huston. Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief, HarperSanFrancisco: 2001.
• Frayn, Michael. Copenhagen, Anchor:2000.
• Jeans, Sir James. The Mysterious Universe, The Macmillan Company, 1932.
• Henry, Richard Conn. “The Mental Universe,” Nature, 436, 7 July 2005.