Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!gwyn@brl-vld From: gwyn%brl-vld@sri-unix.UUCP Newsgroups: net.physics Subject: Re: Yet another prelims problem. - (nf) Message-ID: <17118@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Thu, 1-Mar-84 04:02:26 EST Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.17118 Posted: Thu Mar 1 04:02:26 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 4-Mar-84 03:59:38 EST Lines: 13 From: Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB)If one believes that the fine-structure constant can be computed from first principles, as did Eddington, then for it to be exactly 1/137 would not be possible. For one to believe otherwise, he would have to believe that k, e, h, and c have no necessary relationship to one another. I recall that Dirac was quite taken by the "pure number" constants of physics. P.S. Eddington's calculation at first predicted exactly 1/137 for alpha but as more determinations came in he "renormalized" it to get the right answer. I find his reasoning too hard to follow to tell if it was totally bogus or not.