Dear elephant, Platt, Glenn, Roger and all,
ELEPHANT
> Er, Gravity *is* an idea. And that's the whole point. What newton added to
> the transparent fact that apples fall was an idea expressed in mathematics:
> viz, gravity.
I fully agree. Gravity as a word, description of mathematical equation is an
idea that somehow distills actual experience into communicable form. One might
argue that the birth of an idea corresponds to the date it is first
communicated (before this it is in gestation).
> That this idea expressed in mathematics should *correspond
> to* real life is wonderful. But that it *is* real life is ficxticous:
> apples do not perform mathematical calculations.
>
But they do. The falling apple is an analogue computer that operates according
to very precise rules.
To use it, one has to be able to interpret the trajectories (basically what
Sir Isaac did).
Elephant, I know I'm being pedantic, but do you think digital computers
perform mathematical calculations?
Jonathan
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
MD Queries - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
