It is 99 years since the genius Albert Einstein postulated gravity as a basic force of nature. On the eve of the centenary of his great idea, known as the General Theory of Relativity, comes possible proof that four known sources of nature, including gravity, arise from one super force as it were. Scientists are over the moon with the announcement Monday of the discovery of their holy grail, which are gravitational waves in the undulating fabric of the space-time continuum that are echoes of the expansion of the universe beginning an instant after the Big Bang. Much of what is being said now may sound esoteric, but once the findings are sifted, reviewed and accepted as true, then the big question of how our astonishing universe came about 13.8 billion years ago from the fount of a minuscule subatomic particle would be satisfactorily answered. Cosmic inflation is a relatively new concept, spelt out 30 years ago, and scientists believe they have now discovered the missing link of cosmology thanks to a radio telescope at the South Pole and a dedicated team of scientists hunting for the ultimate truth of our existence. What this does to belief in a Creator is anybody’s guess and makes for a trillion-dollar philosophical question. The believers may, however, take heart from the fact that regardless of what forces of nature created the universe, they can still be classified as the motive force, or “God”, who made the world and enabled us to evolve into human beings.
