The American Jewish world. [volume] (Minneapolis ;) 1915-current, 1922-08-11
By HERMAN JACOBSOHN (Copyright)
ALBERT EINSTEIN WHOSE THEORIES ARE RE-CREA

udIVelouS degree Oh per1ecClOn-SO
long as matter, motion, time and space
are considered absolute and unvary-
ing. Newton lays down the law: Every
body continues in a state of rest or
uniform motion in a straight line If
not interfered with. But do you think
that ball pitched into space would
really never stop travelling in a
straight line, if all the friction Of the
air, ETC., were removed? Well, there
is no way of proving it. You would
think it would get tired of the mo-
notony. Newton could just as we'll
have paraphrased the old Jewish
proverb: '"There are million stars
in the sky, and if you don't believe
me, go and count them"
Einstein wants to know how such
body can travel in straight line
when there is very likely no straight
lines in nature. Again, body might
set out on it's flight with perfectly
honest intentions to follow Newton's
law. But will it be able to follow it
out to the end? Pitch ball across
a field and it will very likely change
little by the time it reaches the hand
of the catcher, thus conforming to
Newton's laws. But pitch it from Los
Angeles to New York and see what
will happen. For one thing, it will
not remain ball at ALL It will be-
come flattened on the sides while on
it's way. Hence Newton's laws of
gravitation hold good for limited dis
tances only.
. But this is far from the whole story.
Newtonian gravitation assumes that
hoIiae box 4Lo oE "a.
each other at Instrumentation at
distance; something weird, uncan-
ny, smacking of witchcraft and re-
pugnant to intelligence. To the laws
formulated by him Con the idea of
action at distance) optic and cleo
tromagnetic phenomena stubbornly
refuse to submit, and remained out
side the pale of physics in general.
Einstein's gravitation, on the other
hand, does away completely with the
idea of action at distance. In fact,
it takes us a great deal nearer the
heart of the mystery of gravitation,
one of the most battling of cosmic
mysteries. Gravitation, Einstein tells
us, is not force outside matter, but
is characteristic of matter Wher-
ever matter appears, that character
1stlc makes itself felt just as does
shape, form, hardness of matter. This
creates "gravitational field" just
as magnet creates magnetic field
around itself by which it attracts par
ticles of a special sort Of matter.
Within limited distances in this
"gravitational field" Newton's laws
hold good to great degree of accu-
racy. But with great distances, they
do not. Einstein's formulas for small
distances reduce themselves to those
of Newton's; but vary for large ones.
And experiment confirms the truth of
formulas.
With Newton the clocks and yard
stick with which one measures the
effects of gravitation are considered
absolute and unchanging. Einstein
shows that they are as subject to
change as the matter which they
measure. These instruments of meas
urement are just as affected by a
"gravitational field" as the other mat
ter in it. And he thus lays down the
law: "The velocity of every particle
depends on the particular system of
co-ordinates chosen for it's measure
ment."
Proof