By Wiesław M. Macek Causality is the basic principle underlying relations in nature, as coined from the Latin noun causa (in Greek αἰτία). Aristotle (384–322 BC) developed the theory of four different concepts of efficient, final, material, and formal causes, but only the efficient cause was adopted in natural sciences. Namely, from the 17th century onwards, when Isaac Newton…

By Wiesław M. Macek The basic concept of a fractal is coined from the Latin adjective fractus and the corresponding verb frangere, which means ‘to break into irregular fragments’ (Mandelbrot, 1982). More specifically we can say that a fractal is a rough or fragmented geometrical object that can be subdivided into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy…

By Wieslaw M. Macek The question of how to interpret quantum mechanics is not yet understood clearly in terms of reality.  Contrary to the founders of quantum mechanics, especially Niels Bohr (1885–1962), Albert Einstein (1879–1955), with Boris Podolski and Natan Rosen, defended a simplified version of realism in nature, postulating the concept of hidden parameters. They…

By Wieslaw M. Macek The origin of living matter is still a big mystery. According to the second law of thermodynamics, in any isolated system composed of many particles approaching equilibrium, total entropy always increases; consequently disorder must grow and natural processes on macroscopic scales are irreversible in time. For example, some time after lighting a…

By Wieslaw M. Macek Modern studies in physics and cosmology provide new insight into an old general, emotional, philosophical question about the reality of the world, as formulated by G.W. von Leibniz in 1714: Why does something exist instead of nothing? Admittedly, the evolution of the universe according to the Big Bang model has now become…