Retro Universe
C. S. Lewis is well known for using symbols associated with the Earth-centered Ptolemaic model of the universe in his fiction. What is generally overlooked is that not only did he employ a symbolic image from modern Big Bang cosmology in great depth in the middle of his science fiction trilogy, but he did so by seizing upon an aspect of that model widely misunderstood by non-scientists.
Most of us are familiar with the contemporary model of an expanding universe, one that began from an initial point. But when we picture this, it’s easy to misconceive the universe as being akin to the air inside an expanding balloon, with some locations closer to the center of the balloon and others closer to the expanding surface of the balloon. But that’s not right.
A better model comes from the astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington, whom Lewis had read and sometimes quoted. In his book The Expanding Universe, Eddington used the following analogy: Our three dimensions are like the two-dimensional surface of a balloon being inflated. You would expect, in an expanding universe, for everything to expand away from one central point. But every point on the surface of the balloon is a point away from which the surface is expanding. So every point on the balloon’s surface has equal claim to being the center, insofar as the word “center” has any meaning here. Scientists referring to this state of affairs sometimes say that every point in the universe is the center, and other times say that the universe has no center. So, while speaking symbolically, does Lewis.
Central but Not Pivotal
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Dante Hosseini lives with her husband and sons in central Texas, where she works as a homemaker and freelance writer. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas and attends Brentwood Oaks Church of Christ.
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more on C. S. Lewis from the online archives
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