Nothing, Nada, Zip, Null . . .

Have you ever thought about nothing? Is there such a place that has absolutely nothing in it? Freaky thought! Absolutely nothing. Can you imagine nothing?

Well, I can't, and I have just completed a book about nothing, and we're not talking about that TV show about nothing, what was it? Nothing in my brain's memory banks about it so I forgot! I'm talking about Nothingness: The Science of Empty Space by Henning Genz, an outstanding book that may give you a headache if you think about it too much. In my case, I avoid the headaches by only reading a chapter or a section of a chapter at one time. Reading this book before you go to sleep is a certain way to trigger very strange dreams, full of . . . Nothingness!

Even empty space between galaxies is not empty! There are molecules of helium or hydrogen, photons from light emitted by stars and other heavenly objects, x-rays from black holes and other high-density stellar objects, and so on. No empty space!

On Earth, forget it! Even vacuum tubes are dense compared to interstellar space, and we’ve seen how un-empty that is!

From the time of the ancient Greeks, thinkers have been thinking of perfect vacuums, ironically filling those vacuums with their thoughts, and scientists have been trying to find or produce a perfect vacuum. Mother nature always says, “No!” to those attempts. Sure, we get close enough for practical use, such as in vacuum tubes in the old radios, the partial vacuums in pumps, and, of course, the household vacuum cleaner. Those are not even close when we look at space between Earth and the moon, and that is a literal soup of matter and energy compared to interstellar space.

Head hurt yet? Mine’s starting to hurt, so let me leave you with a thought or two to fill space between your ears. I have discovered a perfect vacuum. Yes, I have discovered that elusive perfect vacuum!

Where is it, you ask? Why, obviously, I respond, that perfect vacuum is the reasoning portion of the minds of people who watch and enjoy golf or bowling on television!