Isaac Newton Invented Gravity

Isaac Newton (1642-1727), the great English physicist, never invented gravity. Gravity was always around. It is a condition of any object which possesses mass. Newton was the first person to explain accurately how the force of gravity acted upon matter within our universe. Standing on the shoulders of such eminent scientists as Galileo and Kepler, Newton postulated that the force of attraction between two objects was directly proportional to their masses (the quantity of matter which they contained) and inversely proportional to the square of the distances between these bodies. Mythology recounts that Newton? inspiration for his idea was triggered by watching an apple fall from a tree at his home in Woolsthorp, England. He pondered the question as to whether the same force of gravity that accelerated the apple towards the ground was responsible for holding the moon in its orbit around the Earth. His investigations led Newton to the conclusion that they were the same force, and the quantification of gravity resulted.

Space, Mass, and Time are Constants

Space (length, width, and height), mass, and time are actually variables. The only constant in the universe is the velocity of light. Traveling at velocities near that of light (186,000 miles/second) would cause our perceptions of the universe to alter with respect to space and time. Specifically, a detected object traveling close to the speed of light would appear to be compressed in the direction of motion. Clocks in that object would appear to be keeping time at a slower pace than clocks in the frame of reference of the observer. The mass of the perceived object would also be increased.

It is Possible to Travel Faster than the Speed of Light

Only the limitlessness of the human imagination can entreat an object to travel as fast or faster than the velocity of light. For matter bounded by the laws of physics in this universe, an increase in velocity results in an increase in the amount of mass which an object contains. At the velocity of light, the mass of an object becomes infinite. If all of the matter in this universe were converted into energy, there still would not be enough force created to accelerate the smallest amount of matter to the velocity of light. The mass-energy of this universe is thought to be finite.

A Light Year is a Measure of Time

A light year is a standard astronomical yardstick for measuring the distances between objects outside of our solar system. One light year represents the distance that light travels during a period of one year. This distance is equivalent to approximately 5.8 trillion miles