Conceptual Evolution of Newtonian and Relativistic Mechanics by Amitabha Ghosh

Author:Amitabha Ghosh
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Springer Singapore, Singapore

2.2 Relative–Absolute Duality of Nature of Motion

The debate between the supporters of Newton’s concept of motion (i.e. acceleration) with respect to an absolute space and the continental scientists’ philosophy of relative (with respect to other objects in the universe) motion continued for a long time. However, as the progress of science did not get affected by the philosophical nature of the disagreement the debate is not given any serious consideration by the practising scientists; the subject has been gradually pushed to a dark corner of the world of philosophy of science.

One may think that the matter is of purely academic nature without any relevance to down-to-earth science but it is not exactly so. In the Newtonian concept of absolute space as the background for motion to take place ‘inertia’ is an intrinsic property of mass and the second law of motion is a ‘law’. But it will be seen later in this volume that ‘inertia’ can be shown to be manifestation of an object’s motion relative to the matter present in the rest of the universe. This solves also a number of paradoxes and mysteries in Newtonian scheme of things. These will be taken up in later sections of this book. In this section, it will be attempted to demonstrate that a sense of absolute motion can emerge from the results obtained through the observation of an object’s relative motion with respect to other objects present in the universe. To keep the treatment uncomplicated, only a two-dimensional situation will be analysed though the results for a three-dimensional situation will remain the same.

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