“The quantum revolution showed us why the old picture of a vacuum as an empty box was untenable.”

—  John D. Barrow

...Gradually, this exotic new picture of quantum nothingness succumbed to experimental exploration... in the form of vacuum tubes, light bulbs and X-rays. Now the 'empty' space itself started to be probed. ...There was always something left: a vacuum energy that permeated every fibre of the Universe.
Source: The Book of Nothing (2009), chapter nought "Nothingology—Flying to Nowhere"

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John D. Barrow photo
John D. Barrow58
British scientist 1952–2020

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