Читать книгу The Energy System of Matter: A Deduction from Terrestrial Energy Phenomena - active 1883-1912 James Weir - Страница 8

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In the scheme now to be outlined, matter and energy are postulated at the commencement without reference to their ultimate origin or inherent nature. They are accepted, in their diverse forms, precisely as they are familiar from ordinary terrestrial experience and phenomena.

For the purpose of general illustration the reader is asked to conceive a mass of heterogeneous matter, concentrated round a given point in space, forming a single body. This mass is assumed to be assembled and to obtain its coherent form in virtue of that universal and inherent property of matter, namely, gravitative or central attraction. This property is independent of precise energy conditions, its outward manifestation being found simply in the persistent tendency of matter on all occasions to press or force itself into the least possible space. In the absence of all disturbing influences, therefore, the configuration of this mass of matter, assumed assembled round the given point, would naturally, under the influence of this gravitative tendency, resolve itself into that of a perfect sphere. The precise magnitude or dimensions of the spherical body thus constituted are of little moment in the discussion, but, for illustrative purposes, it may, in the meantime, be assumed that in mass it is equivalent to our known solar system. It is also assumed to be completely devoid of energy, and as a mass to be under the influence of no external constraint. Under these conditions, the spherical body may obviously be assumed as stationary in space, or otherwise as moving with perfectly uniform velocity along a precisely linear path. Either conception is justifiable. The body has no relative motion, and since it is absolutely unconstrained no force could be applied to it and no energy expenditure would be required for its linear movement.