1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: Lauren vog Obam. Here, what's the key to unlocking the 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: mysteries of the universe? If you're expecting an incantation in 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: some ancient language originally divined by a holy quester sitting 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,479 Speaker 1: cross legged on a mountaintop, this answer may disappoint you. 6 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: It might just be a number and not the number 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: forty two. Douglas Adams really was just joking about that, 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: but it could be the number A hundred and thirty seven. 9 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: Those three digits, as it turns out, have long been 10 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: the rare object of fascination that bridges the gulf between 11 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 1: science and mysticism, igniting the imaginations of folks from fringe 12 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: theorists and occultists to scientists and researchers to physicists. A 13 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty seven is the approximate denominator of the 14 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 1: fine structure constant, which is the measure of the strength 15 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: of the electromagnetic force the controls how charged elementary particles 16 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: such as the electron and the muon interact with photons 17 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: of light. And we say approximate because it actually goes 18 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: on for a few decimal points. The exact value of 19 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: the fine structure constant is one over a hundred and 20 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: thirty seven point zero three five nine nine three. The 21 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: fine structure constant is one of the key physical constants 22 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: of the universe. Writing about it in a recent New 23 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: Scientist article, author Michael Brooks explained this immutable number determines 24 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: how stars burn, how chemistry happens, and even whether atoms 25 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: exist at all. Let's unpack all of that a little bit. 26 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: We spoke via email with Paul Davies, Regents Professor physics 27 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,759 Speaker 1: at Arizona State University. He explained that the fine structure 28 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: constant quote characterizes the strength with which matter couples to light. 29 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: That is, the probability that an excited atom will decay 30 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: in a certain time. He said that if the constant 31 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: was bigger quote, Adams would decay faster. It is significant too, 32 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: because it is a pure number, he said, a ratio 33 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: of quantities with equal units, unlike say, the speed of light, 34 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: which is either a hundred and eighty six thousand miles 35 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: per second or three thousand kilometers per second, depending on 36 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: which units you prefer. British physicist Lawrence Eaves once explained 37 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: it this way. If the fine structure constant was a 38 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: different value quote, physics, chemistry and biochemistry would be totally 39 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: different and we might not be around to talk about it. 40 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: But practically, from the time of its discovery in nineteen 41 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: fifteen by German physicist Arnold Summerfeld, the fine structure constant 42 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: seemed to signify some larger metaphysical truth as well. We 43 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: spoke with Arthur I. Miller, and emeritus Professor of History 44 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: and Philosophy of Science at University College London. He said 45 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: that the fine structure constant quote, determines the distance between 46 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: an atom's spectral lines, which are the Adam's DNA, and 47 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: so it's one of those numbers that is at the 48 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: root of the universe. If it were any other value 49 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: than the structure of matter would be very different, and 50 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: so us too. People began referring to it as a 51 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: mystical number. He continued the language of the spectra, the 52 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: spectral lines, where Somemrfeld found it is a true music 53 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: of the spheres within the atom. People asked why it 54 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: has this particular value. Physicists could only conclude that it 55 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: cannot have this value by accident. It is out there 56 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: independent of the structure of our minds. But in nineteen 57 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: twenty nine, English astrophysicist Arthur Eddington, who played a key 58 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: role in establishing the validity of Albert Einstein's general theory 59 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,239 Speaker 1: of relativity and was an early advocate of the Big 60 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: Bang theory, among other things, began expressing the fine structure 61 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: constant as one over a hundred and thirty seven. He 62 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: also saw it as having larger spiritual implications. Miller said, 63 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: Arthur Eddington saw a new mysticism which would emerge from 64 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: the natural sciences. Perhaps he thought the clue lay in numbers, 65 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: particularly the number one thirty seven. Eddington's reputation as one 66 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: of the great astrophysicists of his day put a great 67 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: deal of weight on this approach. Physicist Richard Feynman predicted 68 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: that the periodic table would end at one thirty seven 69 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: based on the rules of relativity, and Austrian born quantum 70 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: physics pioneer Wolfgang Paully became fascinated with the number as well, 71 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: since it figured in the mysterious intersection of relativity and 72 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: quantum theory that he explored with the help of his 73 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: friend psychoanalyst Carl Young. The scientific fixation on the fine 74 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,600 Speaker 1: structured constant was such that in nineteen thirty six, Nature 75 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: published an article titled the Mysterious Number one seven. But 76 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: as Polly learned in the nineteen fifties from a religious scholar, 77 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: A hundred and thirty seven has another significance. It was 78 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: the number associated with the Kabbalah, an esoteric form of 79 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: Jewish mysticism, what Miller calls quote an extraordinary link between 80 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: mysticism and physics. The number A hundred thirty seven also 81 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: appears frequently in the Torah. It's the lifespan in years 82 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: of figures such as Ishmael and Levy, for example, as 83 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: well as the age of Abraham when he bound his 84 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: son Isaac to an altar in preparation to sacrifice him. 85 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,839 Speaker 1: Author Billy Phillips, writing for kabbala student dot com, explained 86 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: that beyond that, the relationship of the fine structure constant 87 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: to light in physics parallels the combolists concept of connecting 88 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: with light or becoming enlightened by shedding the ego. Phillips 89 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: put it this way, the missing puzzle piece for physics 90 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: is consciousness. Today's episode was written by Patrick J. Tiger 91 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler clang. To learn more about the 92 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: number A hundred thirty seven, check out Miller's book seven 93 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: Young Polly and the Pursuit of a Scientific Observation, and 94 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: of course, for more on this and lots of other 95 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: articles that attempt to explain life, the universe, and everything, 96 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.