摘要
No, Isaac Newton did not “explain” gravitation. What he did, and this certainly constituted all and by itself a great achievement, was to recognize (to “assert”) the universal character of gravitation: all material objects (bodies) attract each other by gravitation. But how does gravitation perform its deeds? This remained a mystery to Newton. In a “desperate move” at the end of his life, he introduced the concept of “Particles which are moved by certain active Principles [our emphasis]—such as is that of Gravity” he said. We resurrect this scheme, we provide it with a quantum structure—a stunning new insight into the workings of gravitation obtains.
No, Isaac Newton did not “explain” gravitation. What he did, and this certainly constituted all and by itself a great achievement, was to recognize (to “assert”) the universal character of gravitation: all material objects (bodies) attract each other by gravitation. But how does gravitation perform its deeds? This remained a mystery to Newton. In a “desperate move” at the end of his life, he introduced the concept of “Particles which are moved by certain active Principles [our emphasis]—such as is that of Gravity” he said. We resurrect this scheme, we provide it with a quantum structure—a stunning new insight into the workings of gravitation obtains.
作者
Jean-Paul Auffray
Jean-Paul Auffray(Ex: Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY, USA)
