On Saturday, November 27, 1999 10:36 AM Sean Stickle stickle@cfed.org wrote:
> > > In an open space there is no centre. Any point can be appointed. You
just adapt
> > > the formulas and the universe rotates around the Earth.
> >
> > Would you be so kind to make a pirouette? I ought to feel the
> > centipetal acceleration from that here in Sweden if you are right.
>
> Read Mach, the explanation is quite clear. There are no preferred
intertial
> frames, therefore any point in space can be considered the center.
Remember
> Newton's experiment with a bucket of water? Shame on you if you don't.
I would suggest reading John Earman's _World Enough and Space-Time: Absolute versys Relational Theories of Space and Time and Lawrence Sklar's _Space , Time, and Spacetime_. Both books discuss Newton's rotating bucket thought experiment and a few others of his. Also, the former actually has the full text of Newton's Scholium. I also recommend it because the second chapter is devoted to no less than half a dozen different views of classical spacetime, from Mach's to Aristotle's.
Daniel Ust
http://mars.superlink.net/neptune/