The evolution of scientific thought from Newton to Einstein — John Shaqi
The evolution of scientific thought from Newton to EinsteinD'Abro, A. (Aram)
Science
The evolution of scientific thought from Newton to Einstein
D'Abro, A. (Aram)
Relativity (Physics); Science -- Methodology
If any criticism is to be directed against Poincaré’s stand, it should
be on the ground that he showed himself a poor prophet when he claimed
that it would always be simpler to retain Euclidean geometry. Einstein
has proved the contrary. At all events, in what is to follow, we will
concern ourselves solely with the real space of the physicist, that
is, with the space to which he is led when he seeks to co-ordinate
phenomena with the maximum of simplicity. With this understanding of
space in our minds, a first reason for rejecting the concept of an
amorphous space arises when we find that a large number of different
methods of investigation all point to the same definite metrics for
space. Thus, the various material bodies we encounter are by no means
identical in nature; some are light, others are heavy, and their
chemical and molecular constitutions are certainly not the same. And
yet in every case, whether our rods be of wood, of stone, or of steel,
we obtain the same Euclidean results provided we operate as far as
possible under the same conditions of temperature and pressure. In
other words, there appears to be a sameness in our determinations of
congruence regardless of the material bodies to which we appeal.
This uniqueness of the geometry of space is still further exemplified
in the following example: Here are two totally different methods of
exploring space, one with material rods giving us a physical definition
of congruence, and one with light-ray triangulations giving us a
physical definition of geodesics. In either case we are led to the same
Euclidean geometry, and this concordance appears rather strange, for
we might have expected that if the geometry we credited to space were
irrelevant to space, the type of geometry obtained would have varied
according to the physical exploration method considered. Besides,
if space were amorphous, hence possessed no geodesics, it would be
inconceivable that a free body or a light pulse should know how and
where to move. The very definiteness and Euclidean straightness of the
paths of free bodies and light rays, when referred to a certain frame
of reference, would seem to indicate that space had a structure and was
not amorphous.
To be sure, in view of modern discoveries there is nothing very strange
in the fact that the courses of free bodies should coincide with the
paths of light waves, since light has been proved to possess momentum
just as matter does. But even so, it appears strange that the courses
defined by moving bodies should yield the same geometry as measurements
conducted with bodies at rest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account