New Britain herald., 1924-02-26
LECTURES HERE ON
 EINSTE|N'S THEORY
Prof. Baumeardt Speaks to Mem. berS of Commonwealth Club


 'Einstein and Relativity' was th subject of an address by Professor B K. Baumgardt at q meeting of tn Comm monweaIth club at the Y. w "A, last evening.
 Professor Baumgardt Stated tha Einstein takes up the theory o gravity where Sir Isaac Newton lief off. Newton's theory is that ever. yarticle of matter attracts every othe particle in proportion to its mass ant the inverse of the square of the dis tance. What makes it act was no shown by Newton because he did no know.
 Einstein progressed from that point The speaker took for example star He said that light, in passing from { remote star to the earth, passes thu sun, curving as it does so. Therefor, we do not see the star where it is. IT other words, he said, Tt is jus around the bend" The light of tht stars is deflected in passing the sun.
 He stated that time is required tt prepare for the study of Einstein. En tirely new standards must be adopt cd. However, the road is not an i'm passable one, there being man, theories more difficult.
 He opened his talk by speaking about the universe, characterizing i as great drama. No one knows why it is here or where it came from However. it must have a meaning, life must have a purpose or it would be s srapanInuq
 He made mention of the three be. liefs as to tho origin of the universe The first one is that the universe has always existed. But this can not bt comprehended by human beings. Ir order to understand that, people would have 10 be infinite themselves and they are finite. According to that Lelief. the atheistic belief, the uni verse had no beginning and it will have no end.
 The second belief. called the poten- tial idea, is that the universe emerged from a potential state into an actual universe, which in plain English, means an effect without any cause.
 Then the third idea is this: that the universe was created by an external agency or agent. But then comes the question, he said, What created the external agency or agent?" It is just as easy to believe the athclstic Idea that the universe has always existed. One of these theories must be true, he stated.
 He stated that time and space exist only within ourselves. They ,t,s. lx,st p Einstein must be applied to that, hc said. Space Is known by the objects in space, but we know time only by events. If there were no events to mark time, there would be no time.
 We then turn to motion. he said. Motion is known from res; by objects in space. If there were no objects in space, VIC could not tell motion from rest. A body is indifferent from mos ton unless some superior force is brought to bear. The fact of motion coming to rest..is inconceiyabio. He Jols a billiard ball for example, moving how 1t starts at a certain speed. gradually slowing down to a fraction of that speed, that fraction in turn being divided into fractions, on through inhnity.
 The speaker made a plea to the members of the club. Let's be humble" he said. This plea was ad- dressed 10 the audience after he had given short talk on consciousness and thinking and the various paths Of thought that lead up 10 them. What was your first thought? What will be youf last? What vas the last thing you thought of before you went 10 bed last night7" were some of the questions hurled at his listcn- CTS.
 He asked his hearers not to think that Einstein knows any more about his theory than anyone else. He doesn't. He cannot visualize his the- ory any more than other people.
 The speaker then spoke on the his. tory of gravity since the time in 700 F. C.. when the first inkling of it's existence was gained. He stated that a current belief for 1000 years was that the earth was the center of the solar system. That false thought existed So long because there vas no master mind 10 delye into the mysteries and find out for certain whether or not the earth was the center of the solar system. Then, after 2,oo0 years, a master mind brought forward in q book. "Tbe Revolution of the IIcay- enly Bodies" the fact that the planets move around the sun. Tn i543 it vas discovered or at least the theory vas advanced that the planets move in eciipses around the sun. No one attempted 10 show why they did this. ss no one knew. Then came Calico with hts theory Of friction. showing that if friction we're reduced bodies would travel on forever. In space there Is no friction. Therefore the heavenly bodies go on their way for ever. Finally came Newton with his theory Of universal gravity.
 The speaker stated that Einstein. with his theory Of reiatiyity. makes the fact true that we know nothing save in a relative way. Motion is