Natural Philosopher Continues Newtons Work
Lincoln, prepares for an experiment in Natural Philosophy. Natural Philosophy up until the 19th century was “the science of beings which undergo change and are independent of human beings.” Lincoln protests the fragmentation of philosophy into departmentalized sciences due to new contexts and ways of learning. The trend beginning with Galileo, to Sir Isaac Newton, continues with today’s splitting into chemistry, physics, biology, etc. in the great universities. With his research Lincoln harkens back to Aristotle’s tradition. Lincoln hopes to discover “laws” that have been overlooked by the overspecialization of current research.
After a period of set up and planning, Lincoln conducted an experiment to extend the work of Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687. The experiment was conceived when a fist-sized rock was found too large to fit into the slotted grate of a iron manhole cover. The researcher began to search and find smaller rocks that did fit. When released to pass through the slotted barrier, he was rewarded by a pleasing “plop” indicating the presence of liquid below. Additional smallish sized rocks were provided by assistants, and the experiment progressed for some time.
The Natural Philosopher had little to say about the experiment, concerning gravitational acceleration of small objects within massive concrete cylinders into an aqueous target. Why is the resultant “plop” so pleasing? Results will be published in the future pending work on the mathematical description of the observed phenomena.
2 thoughts on “Natural Philosopher Continues Newtons Work”
There will come a time with this experiment when there will no longer be a pleasing ‘plop’, just the sound of rocks hitting rocks. Would that change the experiment?
Gary, of course it would change this experiment. Such a change would alter the assumptions entertained as reasonable by the researcher, –that is the focus of the investigation. How to investigate a audibly satisfying plop that no longer exists….. Either investigate something else within the context of gravity accelerated objects within a concrete cylinder,–or move on entirely. Discover something else that strikes one as interesting. Of course the story is a parable to illustrate what grownup-children, with Phds do as “professionals.”