View Single Post
Unread 11-03-2009, 05:20 PM   #2
Sithdarth
Friendly Neighborhood Quantum Hobo
 
Sithdarth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Outside the M-brane look'n in
Posts: 5,403
Sithdarth is like Reed Richards, but prettier. Sithdarth is like Reed Richards, but prettier. Sithdarth is like Reed Richards, but prettier. Sithdarth is like Reed Richards, but prettier. Sithdarth is like Reed Richards, but prettier. Sithdarth is like Reed Richards, but prettier. Sithdarth is like Reed Richards, but prettier.
Default

Quote:
I'm not talking about Newton, I'm talking about our theory of gravity, how we understand (or don't) gravity to work.
If you're going to complain about me misinterpreting your posts about things you know, I going to complain about you misinterpreting my posts about things I know as I'm very much more a historian of science than a scientist and part of my thesis was on British science.
I was talking about our "theory" of gravity as a subset of relativity not Newton's though I probably didn't make that clear as gravity is really a subset of a larger theory.
I still have no idea what you are talking about. As far as gravity goes you've got three choices. Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, which is nothing but math, Gravitational Field Theory, from which can be derived Newton's Law and which postulates the gravitational field, and Relativity. I guess you could be talking about Gravitational Field Theory but I've never heard of anyone shortening to anything other than Gravitational Field Theory. If that is what you mean then I wonder who exactly taught you Gravitational Field Theory under the title of gravity or gravitational. This is why there is no such thing as a theory of gravity or a theory with the same name as Newton's Law which describes gravity. The closest I can get to what you seem to be implying is Gravitational Field Theory and that wasn't around until about the same time as Electromagnetic field theory both of which where a virtual eye-blink before General Relativity.

I don't know maybe the naming conventions are different but the way I learned it was Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, Gravitational Field Theory, and General Relativity. Which clearly delineates all three as being different than the other two. Although Newton's Law can be derived from either and Gravitational Field Theory is essentially General Relativity without spacetime and relativity. Of course none of them even begin to answer the why of gravity. Gravitational Field Theory and General Relativity give you the how, math and numbers, and the what/where, fields/spacetime, but not the why.
Sithdarth is offline Add to Sithdarth's Reputation