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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  Tiomena 
  were 
  to 
  be 
  referred 
  to 
  masses 
  subject 
  to 
  Newton's 
  law 
  of 
  

   motion. 
  Only 
  the 
  law 
  of 
  force 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  amplified 
  and 
  adapted 
  

   to 
  the 
  type 
  of 
  phenomena 
  which 
  was 
  being 
  considered, 
  Newton 
  

   himself 
  tried 
  to 
  apply 
  this 
  program 
  in 
  optics, 
  on 
  the 
  hypothesis 
  that 
  

   light 
  consisted 
  of 
  inert 
  corpuscles. 
  The 
  optics 
  of 
  the 
  undulatory 
  

   theory 
  also 
  made 
  use 
  of 
  Newton's 
  law 
  of 
  motion, 
  the 
  law 
  being 
  

   applied 
  to 
  continuously 
  diffused 
  masses. 
  The 
  kinetic 
  theory 
  of 
  heat 
  

   rested 
  solely 
  on 
  Newton's 
  formulae 
  of 
  motion; 
  and 
  this 
  theory 
  not 
  

   only 
  prepared 
  people's 
  minds 
  for 
  the 
  recognition 
  of 
  the 
  law 
  of 
  the 
  

   conservation 
  of 
  energy, 
  but 
  also 
  supplied 
  a 
  theory 
  of 
  gases 
  confirmed 
  

   in 
  its 
  smallest 
  details, 
  and 
  a 
  deepened 
  conception 
  of 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  

   second 
  law 
  of 
  thermodynamics. 
  The 
  theory 
  of 
  electricity 
  and 
  mag- 
  

   netism 
  also 
  developed 
  down 
  to 
  modern 
  times 
  entirely 
  under 
  the 
  

   guidance 
  of 
  Newton's 
  basic 
  ideas 
  (electric 
  and 
  magnetic 
  substance, 
  

   forces 
  at 
  a 
  distance). 
  Even 
  Faraday 
  and 
  Maxwell's 
  revolution 
  in 
  

   electro-dynamics 
  and 
  optics, 
  which 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  great 
  advance 
  in 
  

   the 
  fundamental 
  principles 
  of 
  theoretical 
  physics 
  since 
  Newton, 
  was 
  

   still 
  achieved 
  entirely 
  under 
  the 
  guidance 
  of 
  Newton's 
  ideas. 
  Max- 
  

   w^ell, 
  Boltzmann, 
  and 
  Lord 
  Kelvin 
  never 
  tired 
  of 
  trying 
  again 
  and 
  

   again 
  to 
  reduce 
  electromagnetic 
  fields 
  and 
  their 
  dynamical 
  reciprocal 
  

   action 
  to 
  mechanical 
  processes 
  occurring 
  in 
  continuously 
  distributed 
  

   hypothetical 
  masses. 
  But 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  barrenness, 
  or 
  at 
  least 
  

   unfruitfulness, 
  of 
  these 
  efforts 
  there 
  gradually 
  occurred, 
  after 
  the 
  

   end 
  of 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  century, 
  a 
  revulsion 
  in 
  fundamental 
  concep- 
  

   tions; 
  theoretical 
  physics 
  outgrew 
  Newton's 
  framework, 
  which 
  had 
  

   for 
  nearly 
  two 
  centuries 
  provided 
  fixity 
  and 
  intellectual 
  guidance 
  

   for 
  science. 
  

  

  NEWTON 
  ON 
  ITS 
  LIMITATIONS 
  

  

  Newton's 
  basic 
  principles 
  were 
  so 
  satisfying 
  from 
  a 
  logical 
  stand- 
  

   point 
  that 
  the 
  impulse 
  to 
  fresh 
  departures 
  could 
  only 
  come 
  from 
  the 
  

   pressure 
  of 
  the 
  facts 
  of 
  experience. 
  Before 
  I 
  enter 
  into 
  this 
  I 
  must 
  

   emphasize 
  that 
  Newton 
  himself 
  was 
  better 
  aware 
  of 
  the 
  weak 
  sides 
  

   of 
  his 
  thought-structure 
  than 
  the 
  succeeding 
  generations 
  of 
  students. 
  

   This 
  fact 
  has 
  always 
  excited 
  my 
  reverent 
  admiration; 
  I 
  should 
  like, 
  

   therefore, 
  to 
  dwell 
  a 
  little 
  on 
  it. 
  

  

  1. 
  Although 
  everyone 
  has 
  remarked 
  how 
  Newton 
  strove 
  to 
  repre- 
  

   sent 
  his 
  thought-system 
  as 
  necessarily 
  subject 
  to 
  the 
  confirmation 
  of 
  

   experience, 
  and 
  to 
  introduce 
  the 
  minimum 
  of 
  conceptions 
  not 
  directly 
  

   referable 
  to 
  matters 
  of 
  experience, 
  he 
  makes 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  conceptions 
  of 
  

   absolute 
  space 
  and 
  absolute 
  time. 
  In 
  our 
  own 
  day 
  he 
  has 
  often 
  been 
  

   criticized 
  for 
  this. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  this 
  very 
  point 
  that 
  Newton 
  is 
  

   particularly 
  consistent. 
  He 
  had 
  recognized 
  that 
  the 
  observable 
  

   geometrical 
  magnitudes 
  (distances 
  of 
  material 
  points 
  from 
  one 
  an- 
  

   other) 
  and 
  their 
  change 
  in 
  process 
  of 
  time 
  do 
  not 
  completely 
  deter- 
  

  

  