Secrets of the Spectrum
A Podcast Voyage on the Mosaic Ark
We had a great first week of the Fields & Energy Book I campaign. Seventy-five backers more than tripled the original goal of the campaign. If you haven’t backed already, please do so to be one of the first to get a copy of Fields & Energy Book I. I’ve been hitting the podcast and interview circuit, and one of my first stops was with University of Chicago Professor Rachel Fulton Brown.
Our far-ranging discussion wove together medieval science, modern physics, art history, and philosophy. We discussed the separation between science and religion or spirituality, and how medieval thinkers saw these as unified aspects of contemplating the divine.
I discussed how modern physics has lost touch with practical, hands-on knowledge. Professor Brown found parallels in Spike Bucklow’s work on medieval pigments, explaining how medieval artists had to make their own paints and therefore possessed deep material knowledge. Much of this was “hands-on” or “craft” knowledge that was never fully documented and must be inferred from studies of the pigments and the circumstantial evidence we do have of the practices of the period.
Today’s artists buy paint from tubes without understanding the underlying material science, just as modern physicists use equations without understanding the practical engineering applications.
These are just a few of the topics we discussed. I asked Claude to summarize our conversation.
Secrets of the Spectrum
Thank you for sharing this fascinating “Mosaic Ark” transcript! This is quite a rich discussion that weaves together medieval science, modern physics, art history, and philosophy. Let me provide you with a comprehensive summary:
Overall Format and Context
This is a podcast/stream called “Mosaic Ark” beginning its fourth season. The hosts are discussing themes around the artificial separation between science and religion/spirituality, arguing that medieval thinkers saw these as unified aspects of contemplating the divine.
Main Guest and Topic
The primary guest is Hans from the “Society for Post-Quantum Research” (SPQR - a clever play on the Roman acronym). He’s written a book called “Fields and Energy” about electromagnetic theory and has practical experience as an antenna engineer. The discussion centers on how modern physics has lost touch with practical, hands-on knowledge.
Key Arguments and Themes
1. Lost Craft Knowledge
Hans argues that modern physicists have become disconnected from practical engineering, similar to how medieval craft “mysteries” were embodied knowledge that couldn’t be learned from books alone.
Example: Ham radio operators understand transmission lines better than many theoretical physicists because they work with the equipment directly.
2. Medieval vs. Modern Science
The hosts challenge the “Dark Ages” narrative, pointing out that medieval thinkers like Robert Grosseteste, Roger Bacon, and Thomas Aquinas made significant contributions.
Medieval manuscript production shows exponential growth, indicating substantial intellectual activity.
Gothic cathedrals represent enormous technological and mathematical achievements.
3. Electromagnetic Theory Problems
Hans proposes that electromagnetism involves two separate phenomena (fields and energy) rather than one (photons).
4.6.2 The Accelerating Charge Model
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He argues that conventional physics treats contradictory properties as unified when they should be understood as distinct.
His practical antenna work revealed discrepancies with standard electromagnetic theory.
4. Historical Patterns
The discussion traces how knowledge gets lost and rediscovered (e.g., biconical antennas invented, forgotten, then reinvented).
Similar to how the 17th century dismissed medieval knowledge, modern science risks losing practical understanding.
5. Art and Material Science
References to Spike Bucklow's work on medieval pigments show how artists had deep material knowledge.
Color perception and paint-making involved both chemical processes and spiritual/symbolic understanding.
Medieval rainbow depictions (3 colors) vs. Newton’s 7 colors (chosen for mystical/planetary significance).
6. Philosophy of Science
Discussion of how Heisenberg’s positivism (focus only on observables) may have led physics astray.
5.1 Positivism & Physics
A new philosophic outlook was beginning to pervade physics. Deriding “metaphysical concerns” as beyond the realm of physics, advocates of this philosophy, called positivism, argued that the experimental evidence, our observations of reality, were of primary importance.
Einstein’s evolution from positivist thinking to believing in physical reality.
5.2.9 What Is Meant By "Jewish Physics?"
Ideas some today might consider racist or antisemitic were pervasive among Weimar-era Germans. One very prominent German physicist declared:
The importance of maintaining connection between theory and embodied practice.
Notable Details
The podcast has been running for 3+ years with plans for playlists to organize content.
Hans is crowdfunding his book through “Fund My Comic.”
The hosts are working on something called “Draco Alchemicus” (Act 4) about 17th-century intellectual disruptions.
References to banking, economics, and how centralization destroys local knowledge networks.
Tone and Style
The conversation is highly intellectual but informal, with frequent tangents and cross-references. The hosts clearly know each other well and share many inside references. There’s a playful element of turning scientific discussions toward mysticism and medieval thought, which seems to be a running theme of the show.
The transcript captures about 2-3 hours of dense, wide-ranging discussion that successfully connects seemingly disparate fields through the lens of how knowledge is created, transmitted, and sometimes lost across historical periods.
Endnotes
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Interesting points, insights, and examples presented. However, I think that Brown misses the reason for the Middle Ages being referred to as the Dark Ages. Not that technology was not advanced, but for lack of cultural and philosophical advancement.