The American Jewish world. [volume] (Minneapolis ;) 1915-current, 1922-08-11
Concluded from last issue)

tnlS point. "A Few, very lew indeed,
would have it that Einstein's theories
apply only to matter in motion, Civ
ing him credit for inventing formulas
that cover certain fields in physics and
astronomy which have hitherto proved
unyielding to Newtonian mechanics.
/ may add that of the dozen or more
volumes and the scores of articles
which have read have received only
hint of the existence of such an
opinion. The foremost writer's on
Einstein, such as Schlick, Eddington,
= Bertrand Russell, Tolman, Silberstein,
and many others are convinced that
the Theory of Relatively affects every
department of human life-religion,
philosophy, sociology, industry etc.
What the foremost scientific men
of our day think of the theory has
been quoted to some extent in the last
paper. To them it is the boldest con-
ception in the history of human in
telligence. The deductions given here
are partly the writer's it is true, but
driven to their ultimate conclusions,
will be found to conform to Einstein's
Theory of Relatively.
Simultaneity
Can the self same baby be born
both before and after midnight? Ac-
cording to Relatively, yes-for two
observers situated on two different
Frames of Reference. Says Edding-
ton: eve cannot find out what is the
same place at two different times and
we cannot find out what is the same
time at two different places" What
is midnight for the observer on the
train of the illustration in the first
paper is not midnight for the man on
the aeroplane or on the embankment.
Our Geometry
Our school geometry (Euclidean) is
built upon the idea of an infinite and
absolute space-a space that has no
beginning and no end and never
changes. With the exception of such
trifles as the assumption that GER
tain things are true merely because
the author (Euclid) has no way of
proving that they are true, placing
them at the beginning of the book and
calling them axioms, self-evident
things-our geometry is a marvel to
all but high school boys. But strip
space of it's infinite properties and
this geometry of ours becomes shaky
has been all the time. To mention
a few points: Two parallel lines never
meet, says our geometry. They do,
says Einstein-and I can prove it
black and white. A straight line is
the shortest distance between two
points, says Euclid. 1t need not be,
says Einstein,-usually is not. So
long as one confines himself to small
distances, this school geometry Of ours
serves the purpose admirably. But
get away from this comparatively
static world and you meet with untold
difficulty, the moment you begin to
apply Euclidian geometry. "For more
than two thousand years." observes
Einstein very modestly, 1--WE have be-
lieved in Euclidian space because
centuries of experience favored it; but
there is now reason to believe that
these same experiences when pushed
to greater accuracy decide in favor
of slightly different space"
The Fourth Dimension
A culver across the spine! A secret
door opening upon world of ghosts,
spirits, hobgoblins; upon souls blessed,
souls damned, and souls not-worth-a-
damn; shrieking, shouting, whirling
in a hurly burly? Terrestrial
Selves" "Astral Selves" ethereal