CHAPTER VI
THE NEW LAW OF GRAVITATION AND
THE OLD LAW
Was there any reason to feel dissatisfied with Newton's law of gravitation?
Observationally it had been subjected to the most stringent tests, and had come to be regarded as the perfect model of an exact law of nature. The cases, where a possible failure could be alleged, were almost insignificant. There are certain unexplained irregularities in the moon's motion; but astronomers generally looked—and must still look—in other directions for the cause of these discrepancies. One failure only had led to a serious questioning of the law; this was the discordance of motion of the perihelion of Mercury. How small was this discrepancy may be judged from the fact that, to meet it, it was proposed to amend square of the distance to the 2.00000016 power of the distance. Further it seemed possible, though unlikely, that the matter causing the zodiacal light might be of sufficient mass to be responsible for this effect.
The most serious objection against the Newtonian law as an exact law was that it had become ambiguous. The law refers to the product of the masses of the two bodies; but the mass depends on the velocity—a fact unknown in Newton's day. Are we to take the variable mass, or the mass reduced to rest? Perhaps a learned judge, interpreting Newton's statement like a last will and testament, could give a decision; but that is scarcely the way to settle an important point in scientific theory.
Further distance, also referred to in the law, is something relative to an observer. Are we to take the observer travelling with the sun or with the other body concerned, or at rest in the aether or in some gravitational medium?
