The question is interesting, but doesn't have a clear answer. What is meant by closer?
Closer in size? The observable universe is possibly 93 billion light-years in diameter. At 9.5E15 meters per light year, that is roughly 9E26 meters. The Planck length, which is thought to be the shortest possible length is 1.6E-35 meters, so proportionately we are closer to the scale of the universe by a factor of 10 billion or so.
Score: Universe 1; Quantum 0.
Closer in the sense of everyday experience? We can see things with the unaided eye that are quite distant, for example the Andromeda galaxy is 2.6 million light years away. Supernova, when they occur, can be seen at even greater distances. Quantum-level effects are generally undetectable without special instruments, except for a few notable ones such as superconductivity (see the Meissner effect at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be3qiux6D…
Score: Universe 2; Quantum 0.
Closer in the sense of the completeness of scientific theories? These days the microworld appears to be having conceptual probelms. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble… Ironically, the biggest topic of them all, the creation of the universe, has driven so far back in history that the universe at the moment of creation was so small that quantum theory is necessary but, at the enormous energies involved, theories are still lacking. Neither micro nor macro wins this one.
Final score: Universe wins 2 - 0.
Closer in size? The observable universe is possibly 93 billion light-years in diameter. At 9.5E15 meters per light year, that is roughly 9E26 meters. The Planck length, which is thought to be the shortest possible length is 1.6E-35 meters, so proportionately we are closer to the scale of the universe by a factor of 10 billion or so.
Score: Universe 1; Quantum 0.
Closer in the sense of everyday experience? We can see things with the unaided eye that are quite distant, for example the Andromeda galaxy is 2.6 million light years away. Supernova, when they occur, can be seen at even greater distances. Quantum-level effects are generally undetectable without special instruments, except for a few notable ones such as superconductivity (see the Meissner effect at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be3qiux6D…
Score: Universe 2; Quantum 0.
Closer in the sense of the completeness of scientific theories? These days the microworld appears to be having conceptual probelms. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble… Ironically, the biggest topic of them all, the creation of the universe, has driven so far back in history that the universe at the moment of creation was so small that quantum theory is necessary but, at the enormous energies involved, theories are still lacking. Neither micro nor macro wins this one.
Final score: Universe wins 2 - 0.
-
MIcro of course. The universe is incomprehensibly large
-
you must be a nerd to ask such a question