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 materia...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.展开更多
文摘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.
