"We are missing something fundamental".- Nobel Laureate, David Gross, 2005

[RascalPuff]

Science in Limbo

“Man began speculating about atoms long before science became an organized activity Even to the ancient Greeks it appeared sensible to assume that there might be some kind of ultimate building blocks of matter...
“Then, many centuries later, the great Isaac Newton concluded that matter was formed in ‘solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, moveable particles’ - in other words, the atom was something like a billiard ball. Newton’s idea (*of the described ‘particle’) was pure speculation.” - MATTER, p. 119, Life Science Library.

The ‘billiard ball’ concept of ‘particle’ was more readily reinforced by direct, subjective experience, than was any objective concept of mysterious continuous forces generated by and emanating - action at a distance across space - from discontinuous particles and combined systems of particles; to influence other particles and systems of particles. - KBR

“Magnetism, gravity, and action at-a-distance have not lost an iota of their baffling mystery since Gilbert (before Newton 1642 - 1726)” - Arthur Koestler, THE SLEEPWALKERS.

"We no longer think that physical action is explainable in terms of little hard balls which are the centers of all kinds of forces. A much more abstract kind of concept is demanded in which the particle is no longer something which can be considered in isolation, but rather as a part of an all embracing entity called a 'field'. In this development, Einstein's thought construction played a vital role..." - Ibid

"When events occur in 3-Dimensional Space it is not possible to draw an actual graph of 4-Dimensional space-time, but mathematicians have ways of handling such graphs without actually drawing them."
- Martin Gardner, RELATIVITY FOR THE MILLION, p. 98

"The 4-Dimensional world of relativistic physics is the world where force and matter are unified; where matter can appear as discontinuous particles or as a continuous field. In these cases, however, we can no longer visualize the unity very well. Physicists can 'experience' the 4-Dimensional space-time world throughout the abstract mathematical formalism of their theories, but their visual imaginations - like everybody else's - is limited to the 3-Dimensional world of the senses. Our language and thought patterns have evolved in this 3-Dimensional world and therefore we find it extremely hard to deal with the 4-Dimensional reality of Relativistic Physics." - Fritjov Capra, THE TAO OF PHYSICS, P 150

"This concept is very difficult to visualize. It is a consequence of the 4-Dimensional space-time character of the sub-atomic world and neither our intuition nor our language can deal with this image very well."
- Capra, THE TAO OF PHYSICS, p. 80

"In the General Theory of Relativity, the framework of the Special Theory is extended to include gravity. The effect of gravity, according to General Relativity, is to make space-time curved. This, again, is extremely hard to imagine. We can easily imagine a 3-Dimensionally curved surface, such as the surface of an egg. The meaning of the word 'curvature' for 2-Dimensional curved surfaces is thus quite clear; but when it comes to 3-Dimensional space - let alone 4-Dimensional space-time - our imagination abandons us. Since we cannot look at 3-Dimensional space 'from outside', we cannot imagine how it could be 'bent' in some direction." - Ibid, p. 173

"The reader is cautioned against concluding that time is an additional physical dimension in the sense that it can be seen and felt like a material object. No one in our universe can see in 4 Dimensions or more because of the way our universe is constructed."
- James A. Coleman, RELATIVITY FOR THE LAYMAN, p. 69

"In 1916, Albert Einstein published his General Relativity, a mathematical theory of gravitation which replaced Newtonian concepts with abstractions so difficult that it took a decade even for most mathematicians to grasp them. The essence of Einstein's theory was that the presence of matter distorts space and makes it curve. The concept of space curvature stemmed from many dimensional, non-straight-line geometry created abstractly through equations. Just as a surface can curve in ordinary 3-Dimensional space, so in non-Euclidean geometry a 3-Dimensional space can itself curve in 4-dimensional space. No one can visualize such a curved space because humanity is not 4-Dimensional..."
- LIFE Science Library, THE UNIVERSE, p. 179

"There is no space empty of field." - Einstein

"When Minkowski in 1908 demonstrated that Einstein's new theory was equivalent to a new geometrical approach uniting space and time in one singular entity (*4-D space-time), the voices for a 'physical' explanation for relativity fell silent, since it now became obvious that an explanation in physical (*Classical Newtonian Mechanical) terms cannot be given." - Cornelius Lanczos, ALBERT EINSTEIN & THE COSMIC WORLD ORDER

Exerpts from The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn, from paragraph 1: "Research is therefore not about discovering the unknown, but rather a strenuous and devoted attempt to force nature into the conceptual boxes supplied by professional education".

"In the history of physical science, no published and allegedly 'recognized and acknowledged' scientific theory has been so misinterpreted, and consequently so misunderstood and underestimated as the Special and General Theories of Relativity (1905 - 1916) by Albert Einstein." - RascalPuff (K.B. Robertson)

"Time and space and gravitation have no separate existence from matter. ... Physical objects are not in space, but these objects are spatially extended. In this way the concept 'empty space' loses its meaning. The particle can only appear as a limited region in space in which the field strength or the energy density are particularly high." - Einstein

To Besso in 1954, Einstein wrote:
"I consider it quite possible that physics cannot be based on the field principle, i.e., on continuous structures. In that case, nothing remains of my entire castle in the air, gravitation theory included..."

In a world where the vigilantly anticipated, 'billiard ball model particle' could not be - and still has not been - isolated, what motivated the Maestro of wave and field theory to pen-pal this - out of character - sentiment?

The following year, 1955, found Einstein returned to diligently working on his formerly abandoned Unified Field Theory...
He died - age 76 - at Princeton, that same year.

"Physical objects are not in space, but these objects are spatially extended." - Einstein

Speaking at the 2005 Solvay conference David Gross (Nobel laureate) said:
"We are in a period of utter confusion...These equations tell us nothing about where space and time come from and describe nothing we would recognise. At best, string theory depicts the way particles might interact in a collection of hypothetical universes...we are missing something fundamental."
________________________

"Is matter ultimately composed of waves and fields, or is it particles?"

Queried the mad scientist, with a gun to the head of a renowned authority, who responded, "Matter is kind of a schizoid combination of wave-fields and so called 'particles' - though I personally believe the particle vocabulary is a kneejerk reflex of shop talk from Classical Mechanics."

"Wave-fields or particles - no waffling", the gunman demanded.

Pondering this ultimatum for a moment, the impatient interrogator repeated angrily, "Wave-fields, or particles?"

Unable to buy any more time for contemplation, the authority simply replied: "Shoot".

Best regards,
- RP
http://forums.delphiforums.com/EinsteinGroupie

[MJA]

"We are in a period of utter confusion...These equations tell us nothing about where space and time come from and describe nothing we would recognise. At best, string theory depicts the way particles might interact in a collection of hypothetical universes...we are missing something fundamental."
David Gross

When it comes to the science of physics or the measure of nature, I have no confusion at all.
Sorry they do. Maybe I can help them someday and maybe not.
This Way,

=
MJA

[Max™]

Perhaps I'm more talented at visualization than I thought.

I can readily construct 4, 5, 6, and even infinite dimensional models in my visual imagination.

They're quite wrong that "no one can visualize 4 dimensional structures".