But because of the unexpected observations of the rotational velocity of galaxies and of cosmic inflation rates, its theoretical supremacy has begun to be seriously questioned. As Whitehead pointed out, with General Relativity as our theory of space and gravity, we are saddled with a situation where we must first know everything before we can know anything” ( QE 104).Įinstein’s “mono-metric” model has been one of the most successful in the history of science. But we must have a comprehensive grasp of this geometry in order to discover this distribution.
“We must know the complete distribution of matter and energy in the universe prior to knowing its geometry. By collapsing the difference between physical space and his favored geometrical scheme, Einstein made the structure of spatial geometry contingent upon randomly arrayed masses. Einstein did not appear to realize that allowing the contingent warping of space by massive objects undermined the fundamental logical requirements of measurement: that space have a necessary and universal structure (or, as Auxier and Herstein put it, “we must have a standard unit of spatial comparison for conjugacy…and standard(s) of spatial projection” so as to bring this unit into comparison with whatever we are trying to measure ). Somehow, the uniformity of spatial geometry had to be preserved, else scientific measurement would become impossible. Rather, what we encounter in our immediate experiential field are the intuitive whole-part relational structures formalized by non-metrical projective geometry.įollowing Einstein’s articulation of the special and general theories of relativity (in 19, respectively), and his problematic “mono-metric” identification of a 4-D geometrical model with physical space-time*, Whitehead pursued his theory of extension with renewed urgency. We do not experience the world of spatial relations in terms of infinitesimal points or the geometrical schemes built up from such points. We are finite creatures with limited sensory organs and processing capacity. As a radical empiricist, Whitehead was searching for a formal account of our concrete experience of projectively related extensa. While I think I got things mostly right in section 3.2 of my dissertation ( “From Geometric Conditions of Possibility to Genetic Conditions of Actuality”), the promising application of Whitehead’s topological scheme to robotic vision certainly brings this aspect of his project into sharper focus for me. Yet we should have expected and even predicted such a connection” ( QE 90). Our experience has been that Whitehead scholars are simply astounded to learn of this fact. “It is a widely acknowledged fact in this sub-discipline that Alfred North Whitehead’s work on extension is foundational for their enterprise. One of the biggest surprises for me upon reading Auxier and Herstein’s book The Quantum of Explanation was learning that Whitehead’s theory of extension (or “ mereotopology” as it has come to be called) has been taken up by computer scientists working in the field of robotic vision (see for example the work of Ian Pratt-Hartmann).
–Whitehead ( The Principle of Relativity, 3). It so happens therefore that owing to the circumstances of its origin a very general doctrine is linked with two special applications.” Einstein then proceeded to show its bearing on the formulae for gravitation. Relativity, in the form of novel formulae relating time and space, first developed in connection with electromagnetism. “The doctrine of relativity affects every branch of natural science, not excluding the biological sciences.
0 kommentar(er)
