Cosmology and the
Origin of Life
Newtonian Gravity:
Gravitational Force is an attractive force which weakens with
the inverse square of the distance between two mass points. Thus,
double the distance and the gravitational force weakens by a
factor of 4
Fg goes as 1/R2
But Newton makes Two Mistakes:
- He assumes space is flat
- He assumes communication time is instantaneous
Einstein Rescues Us:
- Sets the speed of light to be independent of the motion of
the source --> provides absolute frame and finite communication
time. If not, you could have this .
- Thus, Einstein gives us causality - a very important thing
- Suggests that mass causes curvature of space and which is what
we call gravity. This means that time can act strangely in a strong
gravitational field:
Next step is the observation of galaxy redshifts which will demand
that the Universe is, in fact, expanding.
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The Electronic Universe Project
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