I wonder if anyone else has had some doubtful moments as I have had
regarding a passage in "ABHoT", Ch. 9, page 146?

In the last sentence, 2nd-to-last paragraph, Prof. Hawking states,
"When the cup was broken, they would remember it being on the table,
but when it was on the table, they would not remember it being on the
floor."

It seems that the latter effect he describes is opposite to that which
should ensue if disorder would decrease with time. I.e., if in the
future a cup we are looking at in the present falls off the table and
breaks, and entropy is decreased during the time we saw it and until it
fell, it seems we should remember it having been on the floor first and
at some time after that, we must see it on the table unbroken.

If the analogy is to stand, we must see the cup unbroken once and
broken afterward when entropy increases, and we must also see the cup
broken once and unbroken next. It seems to me that we must see the cup
broken and unbroken in both directions of entropy in order for the
analogy to be properly compared.

What the heck is "BHOT". Being a physicist posting in a physics
newsgroup, I know about H&R's FOP ,S&Z's UP and even R&W's POTA, but
what the heck is BHOT?

Harry C.

[all snipped]

What on earth are you getting at?

Um, sorry, Harry. Entirely my fault. It means the title of Hawking's
work, "A Brief History Of Time".

What the heck is "BHOT". Being a physicist posting in a physics
newsgroup, I know about H&R's FOP ,S&Z's UP and even R&W's POTA, but
what the heck is BHOT?

Brief History of Time... a book by you know who...

Well, Odin, Hawking states that if entropy (and thus, time) were to run
backwards, disorder would decrease with time and any humans observing a
cup on a table which at one time broke by falling on the floor, would
remember the cup being on the table when later they saw it broken on
the floor, but when they saw it on the table unbroken, they would not
remember seeing it broken on the floor.

It seems to me that if his scenario of time running backwards can be
hypothesized (and in Theoretical Physics anything is possible of
course), then the observers would remember the cup broken when later
they see it on the table unbroken. Hawking seems to describe a normal
course of events which occur when time is not reversed and when entropy
increases while he is trying to describe the opposite.

It seems to me that if his scenario of time running backwards can be
hypothesized (and in Theoretical Physics anything is possible of
course), then the observers would remember the cup broken when later
they see it on the table unbroken. Hawking seems to describe a normal
course of events which occur when time is not reversed and when entropy
increases while he is trying to describe the opposite.

I don't have the book, so I cannot say if the problem is with you or with
the book. But why should anyone care?

Odin, not everyone should care, esp. those who haven't taken the time
to read it, but I think everyone who has read it has been impressed
with the ideas he puts forth in it and so discovering an error in his
description of a key point in his book should be of great interest to
his readers.

The book is available at libraries and a movie has been made of it and
shown, I believe, at PBS. To not read such an impressive and current
work is to do yourself out of a good time and a good workout for your
brain.

"TomGee" wrote in message oups.com...
Odin, not everyone should care, esp. those who haven't taken the time
to read it, but I think everyone who has read it has been impressed
with the ideas he puts forth in it and so discovering an error in his
description of a key point in his book should be of great interest to
his readers.

The book is available at libraries and a movie has been made of it and
shown, I believe, at PBS. To not read such an impressive and current
work is to do yourself out of a good time and a good workout for your
brain.

He never should have written the book.
It has created more crackpots, kooks and morons than anything
anyone ever published.
And you seem to be one of them:
http://users.pandora.be/vdmoortel/di.../NotWorld.html
http://users.pandora.be/vdmoortel/di...heOnlyWay.html
http://users.pandora.be/vdmoortel/di.../SmackDab.html
http://users.pandora.be/vdmoortel/di...bles/CRAP.html
http://users.pandora.be/vdmoortel/di...elescopic.html
http://users.pandora.be/vdmoortel/di...oRestMass.html
http://users.pandora.be/vdmoortel/di...reatMinds.html
http://users.pandora.be/vdmoortel/di...mbles/FoR.html

Dirk Vdm

BTW, Dirt****, didja win the election?