Path: csiph.com!au2pb.net!usenet.blueworldhosting.com!feeder01.blueworldhosting.com!border2.nntp.dca1.giganews.com!Xl.tags.giganews.com!border1.nntp.dca1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!local2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.earthlink.com!news.earthlink.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 26 Nov 2015 19:33:35 -0600 Message-ID: <5657B308.316C@ix.netcom.com> Date: Thu, 26 Nov 2015 17:34:00 -0800 From: The Starmaker Reply-To: starmaker@ix.netcom.com X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.04Gold (WinNT; U) MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.astronomy,sci.physics,sci.physics.relativity,rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Re: Where is the center of the universe? References: <54D7D8B6.20A9@ix.netcom.com> <1929728.aQylc7a8uv@PointedEars.de> <56554B77.DB7@ix.netcom.com> <2133158.n7sHMRbLUT@PointedEars.de> <5655F43B.1D21@ix.netcom.com> <3600492.jtiUJ5quDi@PointedEars.de> <56569A73.2E27@ix.netcom.com> <1724582.QRJz7xfHnr@PointedEars.de> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Lines: 100 X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 45.49.183.72 X-Trace: sv3-Xsu7C+stDJM5REVZf+V9l8jdeDJ/I5lSV2fkUaKSJc8gJHLjEY3V/qfuogn3dtwyKXmF6JMEePk25Z3!E3y5Du0mIv1Ot+NZHGCWw0q5PE3xZ2sUgV8BvAzmbtererinacByValZWxFrh3Xb6QOLFtSshZi4!M6U7BGnv X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.40 X-Original-Bytes: 6070 Xref: csiph.com alt.astronomy:279483 sci.physics:535780 sci.physics.relativity:370961 rec.arts.sf.written:427819 Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote: > > “The Starmaker” wrote: > > > For a guy with PointedEars, you don't know much about your > > planet...Vulcan: > > Sadly, you have lost the sense to tell reality from fiction. > > > "Einstein, Destroyer of Worlds" > > > > Einstein went one better. With his pen he destroyed a planet, Vulcan, > > and simultaneously “reimagined the cosmos.” > > […] > > > > > > Although general relativity encompasses the entire universe, Einstein in > > 1915 decided to highlight its effects on the planet Mercury for a few > > reasons, Mr. Levenson notes. > > So far that is correct and has nothing to do with the planet Vulcan which, > mind you, is a *ficticious* planet (although maybe an example of a real one. > Diane Duane, arguably only a writer of non-scientific books, has detailed > the astronomical evolution of the planet Vulcan in several chapters of the > Star Trek novel “Spock’s World” in a scientifically plausible way. There > may be desert planets that evolved that way. One would have to check the > Kepler data to determine if such a planet has been discovered. > > But that has nothing to do with your nonsensical assumption that therefore > it had to be inhabited by a humanoid lifeform with pointed ears. Although > one must admit the idea, and this has relevance to physics, that on a desert > planet with a thin atmosphere such a form of ears could be an evolutionary > advantage.) You are soooo wrong on so many points, it's not even worth pointing it out! Even in 1938 War of the World broadcast peopla believed in Martians...why not Vulcans...with pointed ears?? Does your mailbox at home read 'PointedEars'???? I bet your dog has pointed ears.. > > > General relativity predicts that massive objects warp the space around > > them. > > That would have been be correct if you had said “space(-)time”. > > > The larger the object, the more warping that occurs. > > No, the more *mass* is concentrated within the *smaller* space, the greater > the curvature of spacetime. > > > And Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, would therefore feel the > > effects of general relativity far more than other planets. > > Because Sol comprises about 99.86 % of the Sol system’s mass. > > > Equally important, Mr. Levenson writes, “Einstein had a perfectly fine > > grasp of . . . intellectual combat,” and knew he needed to make a splash > > to win people’s attention. Solving the mystery of Mercury’s > > orbit—something Newton’s revered theory couldn’t do—would produce an > > intellectual tsunami. > > The precession of the perihelion of Mercury was the perfect test for the > general theory of relativity (GR) as a theory of gravity, because if GR > could explain and predict that precisely, which Newtonian gravity failed to > do, GR was undoubtedly the better of the two theories of gravity. And, > happily for Einstein, it did; if it did not, as I remember Lawrence Krauss > saying, “Einstein would have thrown it out like yesterday’s newspaper”. And > that is what science is all about: The better theory, the one that explains > and predicts observations better, wins. Theories that make predictions that > are worse with regard to that, are refined or replaced. > > It is an historian’s fallacy to assume that Einstein chose Mercury for > getting attention. In fact, the record shows that Einstein was not keen and > happy with becoming famous afterwards. Reportedly (I just read this in the > London Science Museum yesterday; a highly recommended place to visit, not > just for Einstein), he said: “To punish me for my contempt for authority, > Fate has made me an authority myself.” (Einstein’s contempt for authority > is well-documented; the Einstein Museum in Berne has more about that.) > > > […] > > Throughout the book, Mr. Levenson seems intent on using Vulcan to make > > grand pronouncements about science and the human condition. > > I am sure that either you misunderstood Levenson completely, or that he used > a good premise and distorted it to fit his crackpot theories. > > Now stop this mindbogglingly stupid crossposting across 4 newsgroups without > Followup-To (especially to newsgroups that have nothing to do with the > subject), and get a real name, or I stop discussing with you. > > PointedEars > -- > Q: Where are offenders sentenced for light crimes? > A: To a prism. > > (from: WolframAlpha)