Marc McCutcheon

There are many items published each year that claim to totally ‘debunk’ established scientific theory and offer ‘amazing proof’ that their pet idea is the only ‘real’ answer. All too many of these items are written by people who have no scientific or mathematical training, who don’t know the difference between a hypothesis and a theory, and have no idea (or desire) to test their ‘ideas’. Typically these ideas are immediately rejected out of hand by established scientists, show more and the authors of these ideas see this as a conspiracy or some other nefarious plot to bury their ideas. This book is a considerable cut above these types of diatribes, but unfortunately does fall into some of the same traps and does not present a definitive ‘new answer’.

McCutcheon starts by looking at problems with current theories – a very good place to start, as there are definite problems with the current state of physics theories. He correctly points out that gravity is a very poorly understood force, and that at least on the surface it seems to violate the ‘Law of Conservation of Energy’. Explanations of how this force is transmitted depend on hypothetical particles that have so far not been observed. It seems to be nearly totally unrelated to the other three forces, the electromagnetic, strong and weak nuclear forces, and theories that attempt to meld all four forces can sometimes make hash out of ‘common sense’. McCutcheon goes into some detail about how the current theory of gravitation was developed, and correctly points out that invoking a mysterious attractive force between astronomical bodies is not necessary to determining proper mathematical orbit descriptions. He also follows some of Einstein’s reasoning about the equivalence of acceleration and gravity, and shows that many of the ‘natural’ physical constants are, at least to some degree, arbitrary constructs of mathematical models. All very good so far, and if nothing else this type of thinking about the basic premises of our theories should be required reading for all students of science.

McCutcheon now proposes an alternative explanation for what is experienced as ‘gravity’, namely that all items possessing atoms are constantly expanding at an accelerating rate, which to something being ‘pushed’ on by this expansion would feel like a constant downward force, while at the same time the ‘space’ between objects remains constant, not expanding itself. He goes into considerable detail to show how this one item could, would properly looked at, explain a multitude of observed facts, without the problems associated with gravity as an undefined force. Here, however, he starts to run into trouble. While he gives some of the math involved (most of which does not require any more than high school algebra to understand), he does not give complete derivations for some of the most troublesome aspects of this idea: planetary orbits and the long term effects of expanding objects crowding the universe. No attempt is made to show what happens with a constantly accelerating object over a long period of time, which a quick calculation shows would quickly approach light speed and beyond, or what size the universe would have had to have been at the beginning to achieve today’s observations, as a single atom would have grown to 100 billion light-years across in a billion years using his calculated expansion co-efficient (and remember that his theory indicates that empty space remains constant in size). These are extreme, possibly fatal flaws in his idea.

Worse, McCutcheon also falls into the trap of many amateurs trying to remake the science world: he continually makes statements to the effect that scientists are brainwashed, unwilling to look at problems with their theories, and in some cases attributes deliberate hiding of problems in mathematical derivations of current theories to some of the greatest minds in the field. This is neither necessary nor conducive to getting his idea some serious attention., nor does it make for good reading.

McCutcheon idea is fresh and original, and he has done a lot of work to try and make this idea hold up across a large number of observed facts. Ideas like this should always be presented and looked at for their feasibility. But they need to have better support, interactive fixes for problems as they are pointed out, and less invective before they can seriously expect to get a thorough investigation. Publishing this idea in a book targeted at laymen is probably not the way to go; but rather a rigorous paper presented to any of the scholarly journals devoted to this type of thing would achieve much better results. show less

Interesting, this book, and not so much for what it says, especially. Here we have a book claiming to have a final, all-encompassing Theory of Everything, written by a guy with an EE degree. It is self-published. It has five-star ratings galore on Amazon, all written by folks who have never reviewed anything else on Amazon. Do some googling, and you'll find that negative reviews are quickly deleted by Amazon. All of this makes me wonder about just what is going on here: why is Amazon going show more out of its way to promote a self-published book? Why this book? It's all very mysterious and strange. The book itself is odd. Chapter One "debunks" Newton's theory of gravity, and reveals how little the author understands physics. (It does, however, remind me that no one really understands gravity, which is astounding, when you think about it.) Then we encounter Chapter Two, where the author presents his Big Idea, which is completely nonsensical. He offers no experimental evidence -- his "science" is all based on "common sense". I don't think he's out to make a quick buck, though I'm sure he's made a few. It's just another crackpot book by someone who feels the Establishment needs to be taken down and replaced by the will of the people. It's popularity is no doubt due to how it positions itself as an "outsider's" manifesto. It's written sort of in the Dummies style. So, if you're looking for A Final Theory for Dummies, you've found it. It's worth taking out of the library, for a few chuckles. Though it reveals more about the world of online booksellers and self-publishers than physics. show less

There is widespread belief that physics has essentially figured out the universe, yet if you take a good close look, the head-scratching, arguing camps, mysteries, paradoxes, and wild theories are everywhere (witness Dark Energy, Dark Matter, 11-Dimensional Superstrings, Quantum paradoxes, Relativity mysteries, etc.). Billions of dollars have been spent constructing experiments trying to prove historical theories that are now considered fact, yet whose fatal flaws are plain to see with just show more a little logic and modest critical analysis, all because there was no better alternative at the time and now we're locked in and heavily invested in them. The Final Theory takes a good hard look at this legacy and clearly exposes the fundamental reasons why all this is happening -- and would probably continue endlessly without this book, while providing solid new answers that have great potential to stop this insanity in its tracks.

The best way I could describe this new perspective is that it is a very far-reaching application of Einstein's equivalence principle, where the gravity we feel on the ground is indistinguishable from being continually accelerated upward in an elevator in deep space, only the theory takes this idea far more literally and goes way further than Einstein or anyone else ever took it, leading to the expansion of matter on all levels, both the atomic level and the sub-atomic level. The book is written in plain, clear and descriptive language that is accessible to everyone, with intriguing and challenging scientific discussions on nearly every page. For me this is by far the most viable and comprehensive explanation of the physical world I have ever encountered -- and ever expect to in my lifetime, frankly, which is why I treasure this find so much.

The first half of the book completely re-explains common physical events such as our weight on the ground, falling objects, orbits in our solar system, as well as grander issues such as inter-stellar travel and galactic and universe structure and formation -- all according to this new principle. And all of this is done with reference to actual measurements, experiences, observations and space missions, showing a far more sensible physics than Newton's proposal of an endless unpowered attracting force or Einstein's abstract warped space-time. The second half deals with energy in all its forms (light, electricity, magnetism, sub-atomic forces, etc.) and all the implications in view of this new principle, dealing also with Special Relativity, General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and more along the way, still with the same clarity and straightforward approach as in the first half. By the end of the book, an entirely new and fully unified scientific view of everything is fully uncovered, all based on the same singular physics principle throughout, and with a depth and breadth that has never appeared anywhere yet that I'm aware of.

Judged both on its grounding in solid scientific principles and on Occam's Razor, which states that the simplest sensible explanation is usually the correct one, McCutcheon's Expansion Theory far outshines today's current theory in my opinion. If something seems needlessly, chronically and increasingly filled with mysteries, paradoxes and complexities, that is usually a strong indication that we should start looking elsewhere for answers, and this book gives a powerful new direction in which to look. Thankfully, I am now free of the same old repeated party lines I see every time I walk past the science magazine racks or see yet another documentary on our 'strange and incomprehensible universe'. Turns out it's just our odd theories that make it appear strange and incomprehensible when observations are repeatedly and singularly filtered through them and fed to us with no alternative viewpoint, hammering home the belief that our theories must be right and our universe must be a very bizzare place; yet it's actually a rather simple and beautiful place when seen from the right perspective.

In searching around, I can see there is a bit of controversy stirred up by the book, with some feeling justified in strongly vocalizing against it clearly without even bothering to read it first -- even here on Amazon's legitimate customer review page. This book powerfully demonstrates that everything we know and believe today may well need a major rethink, leveling the playing field and powerfully enabling anyone to stop and think twice, and that's not something everyone wants to hear. But as far as I'm concerned it's an absolutely fantastic find that will be relished by anyone who senses something is up with today's science and would like the opportunity to take another look at it for themselves from an entirely fresh scientific perspective that they simply won't hear from the heavily defended, unified front presented by today's scientific community and science media. show less

Everything is continually getting bigger. That, contends the author, is the universal principle implying that the law of gravity, electromagnetism theory, and most of the rest of established physics are all wrong. One could simply dismiss him as a crackpot, but it is interesting and sometimes challenging to identify the what and the how of his fallacies. As long as religion isn't being peddled, science fantasy can be enjoyable reading. www.thefinaltheory.com