第43页 Manchester and Athens

The discoveries of recent decades in particle physics have led us to place great emphasis on the concept of broken symmetry. The development of the universe from its earliest beginnings is regarded as a succession of symmetry-breakings. As it emerges from the moment of creation in the Big Bang, the universe is completely symmetrical and featureless. As it cools to lower and lower temperatures, it breaks one symmetry after another, allowing more and more diversity of structure to come into existence. The phenomenon of life also fits naturally into this picture. Life too is a symmetry-breaking. In the beginning a homogeneous ocean somehow differentiated itself into cells and animalcules, predators and prey. Later on, a homogeneous population of apes differentiated itself into languages and cultures, arts and sciences and religions. Every time a symmetry is broken, new levels of diversity and creativity become possible. It may be that the nature of our universe and the nature of life are such that this process of diversification will have no end.