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Posted on 08/20/2016 12:22:18 PM PDT by MtnClimber
WWith hindsight, it seems as though scientific breakthroughs sweep quickly to universal acceptance. A paper is published and everybody says, “Eureka!” But that’s not necessarily the case. Sometimes scientists have too much invested in the status quo to accept a new way of looking at things. This was certainly true when Albert Einstein‘s 1905 paper on “special relativity” first challenged the British conception of ether. Einstein argued that space and time were bound up together (something he would elaborate on in his theory of general relativity of 1915, adding gravity to the mix of space/time), a complicated idea that contradicted the long-held belief in something called ether.
In the 19th century, ether (not to be confused with the once-popular anesthetic diethyl ether) was the medium that scientists believed filled space. It might be considered the first “dark matter,” an undetectable something theory said should be out there, the explanation for a number of problems having to do with electricity, the movement of light, even the whole concept of “nothing.” It was, according to one early-20th-century physicist, “accepted as a necessity by all modern physicists.” But as Einstein’s theory noted, there was no experimental confirmation for the substance. There was no proof it existed, other than that the scientific establishment had accepted the concept.
(Excerpt) Read more at daily.jstor.org ...
I know all about stubborn technical staff. I have been battling a ridiculous standard and I have written a memo explaining how the standard will make it impossible for a system to actually work. The committee reviewers agreed with me, but the senior member who wrote the standard refuses to change it. That senior member just retired and the standards committee is busy rewriting the troublesome standard. They just can’t agree about what it should be. We adjusted our system so it works and provided the committee with the results and told them that this should fall within the acceptable range for the new specification. Meanwhile we are in limbo for probably a year.
Excellent read - “The Structure of Scientific Revolution” by Thomas Kuhn
One of the top 5 books everyone should read on my personal list :-)
Explains a lot of post modern thought and shows how physics can be applied to social phenomenon. Focus on the concept of the “paradigm.”
Read it in small doses.
i always thought is was the I before E thing. He has it wrong twice in his name.
Wikipedia (yeah, I know the warnings) referencing a NASA database lists:
M51 distance 23 million light years, redshift 463 ± 3 km/s
NGC 5195 distance 25 ± 3 million light years, redshift 465 ± 10 km/s
When I was in university one prof lectured that the data gathered is forever but the interpretation of that data is never set in stone and is always subject to change and debate.
Roger that. But back in the nineties, the dwarf galaxy was said to have a much higher red shift.
Many parts of general relativity was shown to be correct. Photos taken in the 1919 solar eclipse show that light is bent by a gravitational field. Also, GR, accurately accounts for the precession of Mercury which could not be explained by Newtonian mechanics. Finally, GPS has to account for GR to maintain accuracy.
It used to be ‘settled science’ that stomach ulcers were caused by stress/acid. When someone posited that the cause may have been Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), it was derided as heresy. But today, it’s settled.
Maxwell and Newton tell us much of what we need to know
That’s the way it should be. But it’s folly to discard mountains of experience on a whim. What you’d have then would resemble a kids’ soccer game. The ball bounces in the corner and everyone rushes over there until it gets kicked out, then everyone rushes over to the new place.
It should be like the ad slogan for a company where I used to work: We make haste slowly.
Does Einstein have to fall for FTL to work? Einstein Is right for ‘normal space’, right? To go FTL, you have to step outside normal space.
At least according to all the fictions.
Beats me.
Maxwell’s 200 field equations superseded Newton by so far it is ridiculous - like a jet and a turtle. Much of what we need to know is still locked into the original 200 but his original work is rare and very hard to find.
Maxwell proposed instantaneous transport between any point to any other without intervening machinery, free energy, instantaneous communication (much like quantum entanglement), and much more.
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As I recall general relativity has to reconcile all the forces, electrical, weak, strong, and not just gravitational.
That’s right and I still remember the look on people’s faces when it was suggested we treat ulcers with antibiotics. A big part of the surgery I learned as an intern was various operations for ulcers. No more. Gone. Done.
In 1676 Danish Lutheran astronomer, Ole Roemer, presented his timing measurements of the eclipses of Jupiter’s moon Io, showing that the speed of light was finite. While a few scientists (e.g., Isaac Newton and Christiaan Huygens) supported Roemer, the general scientific community held that the speed of light was infinitely fast. Over half-a-century later (and almost two decades after Roemer’s death), English physicist James Bradley confirmed in 1728 the finite speed of light using stellar aberration measurements.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge...”
~ Attributed to Albert Einstein ~
For the word, imagination, I would use the word, intuition.
In my opinion, true scientists have an informed intuition, and are in the minority in the so-called scientific community.
Most of those who are called scientists are in my opinion highly-skilled technicians who lack intuitive insight. They dogmatically teach what they are taught.
I may be wrong, but I believe you are thinking of Einstein’s attempts at a Grand Unified Theory. GR is about how gravity affects space-time.
Much like church pastors who really don’t have a personal relationship with the Triune God about whom they teach. When you know someone really well, you know they would never do this or that. Many people who talk about God have never read the Bible!
I love the complexity of the universe because it reveals the complexity of its Creator!
“As I recall general relativity has to reconcile all the forces, electrical, weak, strong, and not just gravitational.” Wastoute post 35
I like the centrifugal force vs gravity. I think that’s the key to flying saucers.
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