Reply #25: not like Pythagorus [View All]

[hfojvt]

The original theory was that object goto their 'natural' place. Then it was thought that heavy objects, logically, fall faster than lighter objects until Galileo demonstrated that was not so. Then it was called a 'force' g = G m1*m2/4piR-squared. Now forces are out and it is said that mass 'bends space' although how mass does that and the distinction between that and a force escapes me. More to the point, with relativity masses are no longer constants so the original formula must be modified, apparently like everything else, so that m1.1 = m1*square root of 1-v-quared over c-squared. And the same with m2.1. Later, with ever more precise instruments and time, it may be discovered that the 'constant' G is really a function of the expanding universe and so changes over time infinitesimally by some formula we have not yet discovered. Not to mention a "unified theory" explaining all the various forces - strong force, weak force, electromagnetic force, and gravity under one umbrella. This may change our understanding entirely and allow us to build anti-gravity devices and more precise and devastating weapons, which is the primary purpose of science - to "find a way to collect the relatively diffuse violence of nature and drop it in small and convenient packages on your enemies." (Kurt Vonnegut 'Galapagos')