FROM COPERNICUS TO EINSTEIN COPYRIGHT MCMXLII BY PHILOSOPHICAL
LIBRARY, INC. 15 EAST 40TH STREET, NEW YORK Composed and Printed in
the United States of America By Steingould Corp., New York
TYPOGRAPHY BY SIDNEY SOLOMON CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. The Copernican
View of the World 11 2. Ether 29 3. The Special Theory of
Relativity 49 4. The Relativity of Motion 73 5. General Theory of
Relativity 85 6. Space and Time 107 6201251 ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1.
A Tycho Brahe s Sextant 20 2. Roemer s Observation of Jupiter s
Moon 32 3. The Phenomenon of Interference 38 4. The Total Spectrum
46 5. The Diagram of Michelson s Experiment 54 6. A Diagram of the
Measurement of the Speed of Light 59 7. A Diagram of the Course of
a Light-Signal 63 8. Einstein s quot Box Experiment quot 86 9. The
Curvature of Light-Rays in Einstein s Box 95 10. The Einstein Tower
in Potsdam 100 11. Major Segrave s 1,000 Horsepower Auto at Full
Speed 1 10 FROM COPERNICUS TO EINSTEIN Chapter 1 THE COPERNICAN
VIEW OF THE WORLD THIS little book purports to serve as an
introduction to the great problems of space, time and motion. The
in quiries it is concerned with are very old. Men have been forming
ideas concerning space and time since times im memorial, and
curiously enough, have been writing and fighting about these things
with the greatest interest, even fanaticism. This has been a
strange strife, indeed, having little to do with economic
necessities it has always dealt with abstract things, far removed
from our daily life and with no direct influence upon our daily
activities. Why do we need to know whether the sun revolves around
the earth or vice versa What business of ours is it, anyway Can
this knowledge be of any use to us Nosooner have we uttered these
questions than we become aware of their foolishness. It may not be
of any use to us, but we want to know something about these
problems. We do not want to go blindly through the world. We desire
more than a mere existence. We need these cosmic perspectives in
order to be able to experi ence a feeling for our place in the
world. The ultimate questions as to the meaning of our actions and
as to the meaning of life in general always tend to involve astro
nomical problems. Here lies the mystery surrounding 11 From
Copernicus To Einstein astronomy, here lies the wonder we
experience at the sight of the starry sky, the wonder growing in
proportion to our understanding of immense distances of space and
of the stars inner nature. Here is the source of scientific as well
as popular astronomy. These two branches have diverged in the
course of their development. Astronomy, as a science, has come to
forget its primitive wonder instead, it approaches the realm of
stars with sober research and calculation. This disenchantment with
its subject-matter, which scientific study invariably entails, has
permeated astronomy to a greater degree than the layman realizes.
In observing the astronomers of today, how they measure, take
notes, cal culate, how little attention fiiey pay to mysterious
specu lations, one may be surprised to find the wonderful struc
ture of learning so cut and dry at a close range. Yet nothing is
more wrong and more objectionable than the feeling of a
heartbreaking loss, with which some people regard the vanishing
mysticism of the skies. Although science may have destroyed a few
naive fantasies, what she has put in their place is so immensely
greater thatwe can well bear the loss. It takes perseverance and
energy, of course, to com prehend the discoveries of science but
whoever under takes the study is bound to learn many more
surprising things from it than a naive study of nature can
disclose. Scientific astronomy has always exercised, in fact, a
great influence upon everyday thinking and upon the popular
conception of the universe. If it is difficult today to pro-12
General
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