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From: desj@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (David desJardins)
Newsgroups: net.physics,net.origins
Subject: Re: Bogus physics reamplified
Message-ID: <12716@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Thu, 27-Mar-86 06:21:06 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.12716
Posted: Thu Mar 27 06:21:06 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 29-Mar-86 01:33:33 EST
References: <368@ihnet.UUCP> <2057@jhunix.UUCP> <2874@sjuvax.UUCP> <446@3comvax.UUCP> <424@lanl.ARPA> <133@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU>
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Reply-To: desj@brahms.UUCP (David desJardins)
Distribution: net
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 17
Keywords: general relativity, justifying assertions, name-calling
Xref: watmath net.physics:3999 net.origins:2988

In article <133@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU> vis@trillian.UUCP (Tom Courtney) writes:
>Hmm, the way a foucalt pendumlum behaves proves that the earth is rotating?
>I was taught that in school too, but then I read an article claiming that
>if the universe rotated around the earth, the pendulum would do the same
>thing. Sorry, I don't remember the article or justifications. Does anyone
>have a proof, one way or the other?

   Yes, exactly.  This is the point that Matt Wiener and others have been
trying to make (I hope I can speak for him).  From the fact that these two
descriptions lead to the same result, we conclude that it is meaningless
to say that the universe is rotating about the Earth (since it is equivalent
to the simpler assumption that the Earth is rotating).  Meaningless but
definitely not wrong.
   For an intuitive (mathematically non-rigorous) derivation of this see
MTW pp. 547-49.

   -- David desJardins