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From: russ@ihuxi.UUCP (Russell Spence)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Gravity anyone?
Message-ID: <1020@ihuxi.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 14-Aug-84 10:52:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxi.1020
Posted: Tue Aug 14 10:52:56 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 15-Aug-84 00:47:15 EDT
References: <3290@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 33


> How do you "explain" gravity?  Are gravitons sent to and fro?  Why don't
> they cancel each other out if the masses are equal?  How fast should
> gravity waves travel? Just the speed of light?
> 
> Is mass the cause of gravity or does the movement of the gravitons create
> the effect of mass?  

You can't "explain" gravity just like you can't "explain" any natural laws
or physical phenomena.  What you can do is observe the effects and assign
terms like "gravity", "mass", and "gravitons" to them so that you can make
statistical observations about them that will lead to a method of predicting
the probable outcome of events.  Some scientific systems are more successful
at this than others.  Modern science has progressed to the point that it can
predict what will happen in most circumstances.  This has led to the mis-
taken belief that science can "explain" things.  It can "decribe" things
(and events) and can be used to make predictions about future events, but
it doesn't really "explain" anything.

I would think that your questions could best be answered by a good book on
quantum mechanics.  The mathematics required to figure out the speed of
gravity waves or the movement of gravitons is probably too difficult to
make a good subject for the net.  If you just want to discuss their existence
or what causes the effect of mass and gravity, then you will probably get
either a standard textbook response or a personal opinion that has the 
validity of an answer to the question "which came first, the chicken or the
egg?".
-- 

						Russell Spence
						ihnp4!ihuxi!russ
						AT&T Technologies
						Naperville, IL