Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!security!genrad!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhuxt!mhuxi!cbosgd!ihnp4!we13!otuxa!ll1!sb1!burl!duke!unc!mcnc!ncsu!uvacs!kff 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 ..!decvax!duke!mcnc!ncsu!uvacs!kff