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A popular concept of the "Theory of Everything" considers such theory to consist the most basic ingredient upon which everything can be built or understood. The most often definition of the ingredient is on the size of the components. Unfortunately, this is not the case as the construction become very complicated very soon when it is used to describe the system in the next (larger) level. |
Figure 16 Reductionist's Systems [view large image] |
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The reductionist's approach is to use different method/theory for each different level and merge the various levels together at the end. Usually the connection is to adopt the derived quantities or properties at the lower (smallersize) level as input parameters or established facts in the theory for the higher (larger size) level. Details in the lower level can be neglected by the theories for higher levels. Figure 16 and Table 02 illustrate some of the systems according to the size of their components. The classification is incomplete as there are many more systems below, above, and in between. The displays only try to emphasize the place of the world of nano-scale among the other systems. The next section will provide more detail about the unique properties of such world, from which all lives arose. The image on the left shows finer size division for some systems and components. |
| See also the mathematical intricacy of the many body system either in classical or quantum theory. |
| System | System Size (cm) | Component Size (cm) | Interaction(s) | Effective Theory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atom | ~ 10-8 | 10-16(electron) - 10-12(nucleus) | Electromagnetism | Quantum Mechanics |
| Cell | 10-5 - 10-1 | 10-7(Water Molecule) - 10-6(Protein) | Covalent and Hydrogen Bonds | Molecular Biology |
| Living World | 109(Earth) | 10-5(cell) - 3x103(blue whale) | Light, Sound, Smell, Force | Biology |
| Solar System | 5x1017 | 108(Pluto) - 4x1014(Sun) | Gravity | Newtonian Mechanics |
