But the question can be asked from a completely different point of view. We have so far placed ourselves in a purely subjective, purely psychological or, if you will, physiological point of view; we have only considered the relations of … Read More
It seems, therefore, that space cannot be constructed by considering sets of simultaneous sensations, which must be considered as sequences of sensations. Always go back to what I said before. Why do certain changes appear to us as changes of … Read More
The question seems resolved; we seem to have only to apply this rule, either to the physical continuum, which is the coarse image of space, or to the corresponding mathematical continuum which is its refined image and which is the … Read More
But what is a continuum with n dimensions; how does it differ from a continuum whose number of dimensions is larger or smaller? First, let us recall some results recently obtained by the students of Cantor. It is possible to … Read More
Geometers usually distinguish two kinds of geometries, which they call the first of metric and the second of projective; metric geometry is based on the notion of distance; two figures are regarded as equivalent when they are “equal” in the … Read More
The psychological time, the Bergsonian duration, from which the scientist’s time has come out, serves to classify the phenomena that occur in the same consciousness; it is powerless to classify two psychological phenomena which have for their theater two different … Read More
One of the reasons that led me to return to one of the questions I have most often dealt with, is the recent revolution in our ideas on mechanics. Will the principle of relativity, as conceived by Lorentz, not impose … Read More
I suppose a world whose various parts possess a heat conductivity so perfect that they are constantly in equilibrium of temperature. The inhabitants of this world would have no idea of what we call temperature difference; in their treatises on … Read More
Let us now turn to another point of view. The laws that direct observation gives us are never more than results. Take for example the law of Mariotte. For most physicists, this is only a consequence of the kinetic theory … Read More
And if humanity were to last longer than we have supposed, long enough to see the laws evolve before its eyes? Or even if it came to acquire instruments delicate enough that this variation, slow as it is, becomes sensitive … Read More
I raised this question incidentally only; it deserves to be thought about; but I do not want to be dragged too far from my subject. Is it possible that the contradictions of geologists never lead scientists to conclude the evolution … Read More
Let me digress here. We have just seen that the geologist possesses an instrument which the mathematician misses and which enables him to conclude from the present to the past. Why does the same instrument not allow us to conclude … Read More
