Center of Science, Policy and Society Programs: AAAS Dialogue on
Science, Ethics and Religion AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics
and Religion Physics & the Cosmos The field of physics attempts
to make sense of the Universe at all scales, from the impossibly
small particles from which we are comprised to the inconceivably
large structures within which we exist. The miniscule yet
fundamentally important realm of quarks, photons and protons
(among many others) is articulated by Quantum Mechanics through
such concepts as the simultaneously wave and particle nature of
light and the inherent uncertainty in the physical universe. At
the other extreme, Einstein’s General Relativity provides a
framework for understanding our cosmos on the largest possible
scale and accounts for the large-scale gravitational effects of
all matter on space and time. From quarks to quasars, physics
and astronomy address an enormous variety of objects and
phenomena, many of which provoke intriguing physical and
metaphysical questions. Since