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The Universal Force This page intentionally left blank The Universal Force Louis A. Girifalco 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Louis A. Girifalco 2008 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles Ltd., www.biddles.co.uk ISBN 978–0–19–922896–6 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Let me tell you about Galileo, Newton, and Einstein, and about gravity, planetary motion, the Moon, and the stars. It’s all wrapped up in one simple statement. Here it is: The laws of nature are the same for everybody, everywhere. Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to the following individuals for their comments and discussions: Hugh Van Horn, David Welch, Graig Welch, and Bill Bruehl. Among them, these individuals represent vast experience and great distinction in astronomy, theoretical solid state physics, art, and creative literature. Each of them carefully read my initial manuscript and offered invaluable criticism and advice. They were generous with their time, and their contributions were acutely perceptive. I am also indebted to Nicholas Cordero, who painstakingly went through all the scientific content to verify its accuracy and in so doing corrected some errors in my presentation. My manuscript was much improved by them and I hereby express my gratitude. Contents Personal prologue Preface viii xiii 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 1 20 45 67 73 89 103 109 115 131 143 166 182 188 195 214 220 229 245 251 257 264 267 276 287 The seeker The giants The first modern giant The grid The universal force The laws The system of the world Force and mass Two more giants Ether The genius Time and space It really is true The space–time continuum Time warps and bent space It stands alone This too is true Crunch Beyond existence Absolute space? Infinity How weird can it get? Scientific truth The meaning of why Final comments Additional reading Index 289 293 Personal prologue Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” had a special attraction for me. It was not the objective content or even the subjective interpretations I might impose on it that held any special meaning. It was the music. The way those words rolled on, the rhythms an