ATDTDA (5.1) - The Etienne-Louis Malus

[Monte Davis]

"Convinced that the laws of physics shouldn't be different simply because of
your state of motion, E. considered that an intolerable loose end -- and
kept pulling on it until the whole edifice of "independent" space and time
unraveled." 
 
>So I assume that is why he speaks of a space time continu[u]m. 
 
Two overlapping kinds of "independence" went away:
 
(1) It was no longer possible to think of either space or time as being out
there independent of what's going on in them; there's no "mind of God"
absolute coordinate grid or universal time. And there's no invariant
distance of space or interval of time;. both vary depending on the
measurer's state of motion, with no measurement "realer" than any other.
 
(2) In place of the old invariant intervals of space and of time, Einstein,
Minkowski et al. defined a new invariant interval of space-time -- in which
S & T are traded off, like you trade off "going north" and "going east" as
you go northeastward.
 
>Is this concept given a equation or is it a kind of  unquantifiable
conceptual framework?
 
The former, oh yes the former. Straghtforward, fairly simple algebra
predicts exactly what the "rate of exchange" between different refrerence
frames is, and it works down to the decimals: e.g., particles whose lifetime
before decay we know very well last longer when zooming around an
accelerator, and GPS calculations have to take into account the speed of the
satellites in orbit.  
 
> So are Galileo's ideas still important, only with different phenomena?I
have a hard time  understanding 
>  how sound f or example would be secondary to mass... sound is just the
ear's measure of vibration. 
 
You've got it without realizing it. Centuries before we knew the mechanics
(even the existence) of gas molecules and their banging and bouncing,
Galileo was asserting that "sound" (secondary) could eventually be reduced
to, explained in terms of, those primary masses and motions. That's been
accomplished; the extended Galilean project is now working on the masses and
motions (chemistry, nerve conduction, cognitive science) from ear to brain,
brain activity to conscious experience.
 
One's stance toward science is in large part how one feels about that
project. For some It enriches the world, for others it impoverishes it.
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