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From: kff@uvacs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.misc,net.religion
Subject: Re: Earth Centered Universe
Message-ID: <816@uvacs.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 22-Jul-83 00:17:28 EDT
Article-I.D.: uvacs.816
Posted: Fri Jul 22 00:17:28 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Jul-83 13:23:29 EDT
Lines: 27


     I find it interesting to watch the "science" contingent  make  fun
     of the "religion" contingent based on the biblical statement of an
     earth centered universe when "everyone knows" the earth spins,  it
     orbits the sun, which orbits the galaxy...  What's amusing is that
     scientific doctrine has changed and no one seems to have  noticed.
     According  to relativity theory, which is not wholly accepted, but
     is the current most widely recognized model of physics,  there  is
     no  prefered  frame  of  reference.  This  means that a stationary
     earth (the universe spins around it) is as valid a  model  as  any
     other.

     There is a misunderstanding about special relativity here.  Relativity
states that there is no prefered INERTIAL frame of reference (ie. any frame
not undergoing acceleration).  However, a rotating frame of reference, such
as  the  earth going around the sun, is not an inertial frame, since curved
motion requires acceleration.  Rotation is an absolute quantity.  The earth
revolves  around  the sun, and the center of rotation cannot be arbitrarily
relocated.  To test whether the sun rotates around the earth, or the  earth
about  the  sun,  all  that  is  required  is  to  measure  the centripetal
(centrifugal?) forces induced by the curvature of the earth's path  through
space.  If  the sun revolves around the earth, there will be no centripetal
force on the earth.  In practice this might be difficult  to  measure.

				     Kelton Flinn
				     Not a Physics Major
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