A Ton of Crap (41 page)

Evidence for the Big Bang
There are many pieces of evidence that lead to the big bang theory as correct regarding the origins of the universe. Scientists are certain that the universe did have a beginning. Hubble’s law, discovered in 1929, states that galaxies are moving away at speeds that are in proportion to their distance, which would mean that the universe was once compact and is now expanding. Scientists have also found remnants of heat traveling through the universe, which is believed to be from the initial heat of the big bang.

SWEDISH

Modern Swedish
With the printing press and the Reformation, the Swedish language began to undergo changes. Gustav Vasa, the king of Sweden, ordered that the Bible be translated into Swedish; this remained the most common Bible in Sweden until 1917; blending Old Swedish with the colloquial Swedish of the time. During this time, changes were made to certain sounds in the language, such as the softening of certain consonants and assimilation of consonant clusters.

COLUMBUS AND THE NEW WORLD

The Third Voyage
In 1498, Columbus set sail on his third voyage, and due to bad reports from Hispaniola, was forced to bring convicts to the New World. Columbus sailed farther south, finding Trinidad, and continued sailing until he realized that he had found a land mass. Columbus had to return to Hispaniola before exploring it any further, however. In 1500, due to the bad reports from Hispaniola, the monarchy sent a royal commissioner to survey the situation, which resulted in Columbus being sent back to Spain in chains.

DIALECTS

Geographic Dialects
The widespread differentiation in dialects is mostly due to geographical factors. Speech in one locality will always differ in some way from that of another locality. An isogloss is a geographic boundary between regions that shows a difference in linguistic features. Isoglosses are frequently grouped together in bundles, the result of migration and political borders. An example of an isogloss is the La Spezia-Rimini line, which divides the Central Italian dialects from the Northern Italian dialects.

PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM

Algebraic Proofs
The Pythagorean theorem can also be proven by using algebra. To do so, the equation looks like this:

(
b
 – 
a
)2 + 4(
ab
/2) = (
b
 – 
a
)2 + 2
ab
 = 
a
2 + 
b
2

When solved, this problem simply turns into:

c
2 = 
a
2 + 
b
2

Another proof related to this was actually created by President James Garfield.

THE BIG BANG

Misconceptions
The big bang was not an explosion, as many believe it to be. Rather, it was an expansion (which continues today). Some believe the singularity to be a ball of fire in space, but in all reality, there was no space, time, energy, or matter prior to the big bang. Space actually started in the singularity. Scientists still do not know where the singularity appeared if space did not exist.

SWEDISH

Contemporary Swedish
Nusvenska, literally meaning “Now-Swedish,” is the Swedish language spoken today. It began toward the end of the nineteenth century, and much of the written language appeared closer to the spoken language, moving away from formal restrictions. By the time of the spelling reform of 1906, the language was standardized, and in the 1960s, a major change was made, known as du-reformen (the “you-reform”), replacing standard titles and surnames with “du.”

COLUMBUS AND THE NEW WORLD

The Fourth Voyage
Columbus managed to get four ships together in 1502 for his fourth journey, which he hoped would restore his reputation. Columbus hit the coast of Honduras and was later marooned on Jamaica in an attempt to return to Hispaniola. Upon being rescued, Columbus was forced to return to Spain in 1504. Columbus died two years later, still believing he had reached Asia.

DIALECTS

Interlingua
From 1937 to 1951, Interlingua was developed as a language that would use the languages of Western civilization as its dialects. Realizing that many words in different languages are similar, linguists used words from English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Russian and German to create a spoken and written language that would be able to be understood by all. Interlingua is known as an international auxiliary language.

PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM

Proof with Differentials
A proof using differentials employs principles of calculus to prove the Pythagorean theorem. This type of proof involves studying how changes to a side of the triangle affect the hypotenuse. This is considered to be a metric proof, and instead of using areas, the proof is based on lengths.

THE BIG BANG