TIME -- SPACE NEXUS
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3570 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
As noted by I. PRIGOGINE: “The legacy of Newtonian mechanics is a concept of the world in which time is essentially a parameter associated with motion. As early as 1796, LAGRANGE called mechanics a four-dimensional geometry” (1973, p.29).
The introduction of a finite velocity for the propagation of light implied that space measurement is possible in terms of timely propagation of light. This understanding is now currently used in astronomy (light years). This already dawned in H. MINKOWSKI's mind in 1908: “Space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into mere shadows, and only a kind of union of the two will preserve an independent reality” (1923, p.78).
Necessarily, if the velocity of light is finite and if there is no infinite velocity in the universe, propagation of effects in space needs time. This is moreover the condition of the simultaneous existence of separate locations in space. This in turn produces numerous independent initial conditions at any moment, the basis for deterministic chaos.
D. BÖHM and F.D. PEAT state with reference to the space-time of relativity: “Again two appearently incommensurable concepts were discovered to have a deeper unity, and perception-communication was extended in physics. Indeed EINSTEIN's was one of the most revolutionary steps taken in the history of science” (1987, p.75).