1/8: THE UNKNOWN UNKNOWN: The Elephant in the Universe: Our Hundred-Year Search for Dark Matter by Govert Schilling (Author), Avi Loeb (Foreword)
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 2 July 2023
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
@BATCHELORSHOW
1/8: THE UNKNOWN UNKNOWN: The Elephant in the Universe: Our Hundred-Year Search for Dark Matter by Govert Schilling (Author), Avi Loeb (Foreword)
https://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Universe-Hundred-Year-Search-Matter/dp/0674248996
In The Elephant in the Universe, Govert Schilling explores the fascinating history of the search for dark matter. Evidence for its existence comes from a wealth of astronomical observations. Theories and computer simulations of the evolution of the universe are also suggestive: they can be reconciled with astronomical measurements only if dark matter is a dominant component of nature. Physicists have devised huge, sensitive instruments to search for dark matter, which may be unlike anything else in the cosmos―some unknown elementary particle. Yet so far dark matter has escaped every experiment. Indeed, dark matter is so elusive that some scientists are beginning to suspect there might be something wrong with our theories about gravity or with the current paradigms of cosmology. Schilling interviews both believers and heretics and paints a colorful picture of the history and current status of dark matter research, with astronomers and physicists alike trying to make sense of theory and observation.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is CBS Eye on the World. |
| 0:08.0 | Here's John Bachelorette. |
| 0:11.0 | I welcome dark matter, what we know and what we want to know. |
| 0:16.0 | A new book, the Elephant in the Universe, 100 Years Search for dark matter. |
| 0:21.0 | Guvert Schilling is the author and we begin 100 Years Before This Moment. |
| 0:28.0 | Jacobus Cornelius Coppitan, Coppton. |
| 0:32.0 | Born 1851 writes a paper in May of 1822 that is revelatory. |
| 0:39.0 | It's entitled First Attempt at a Theory of the Arrangement and Motion of the Ciderial System. |
| 0:47.0 | That paper has in it this sentence, the amount of dark matter from its gravitational effect. |
| 0:55.0 | Govert a very good evening to you. |
| 0:57.0 | Thank you. Introduce us to Mr. Coppton. |
| 1:00.0 | What was it that brought him to make that speculation that we now spend so much time puzzling over? |
| 1:06.0 | Good evening to you. |
| 1:07.0 | Yeah, hello. Very nice to meet you. |
| 1:09.0 | And thanks for having me. |
| 1:11.0 | Jacobus Coppitan was a Dutchist for the Merr and as you said, his paper in 1922 was a groundbreaking paper |
| 1:19.0 | because one century ago, as for numbers hardly knew about the universe that we know of, |
| 1:25.0 | we now have this wonderful James Webb Space Telescope that is covering galaxies out to billions of light years away. |
| 1:32.0 | But 100 years ago, no one was even sure whether or not our Milky Way was alone. |
| 1:37.0 | And Coppton was one of the few who thought that the Milky Way Galaxy was the only thing in the Universe. |
| 1:44.0 | It was later called the Captain Universe because he thought that was all there was to it. |
| 1:50.0 | And he thought that other spiral galaxies, spiral nebulae, as they call them, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

