roberts@CMR.ICST.NBS.GOV (John Roberts) (02/08/89)
>From: dinl!holroyd@handies.ucar.edu (kevin w. holroyd) >Subject: Re: Approaching c >Just one note of skepticism here... >Back in the 1940's when we were attempting to break the sound barrier, >the aerodynamic equations seemed to indicate the the air loads (the force on >the wings) would go infinite at Mach speed. Half the aerospace engineers >seemed to think it was not possible to accomplish. Good thing Chuck Yeager >wasn't real strong in Math. If they really thought air loads would go infinite, they should have known better. At the time, there were many things which could be made to go faster than the speed of sound (i.e. many rifle bullets), which were not crushed by infinite forces. I agree that theories have been proven wrong in the past and probably will be in the future, and that one should not assume all current theories are correct, but different theories have different degrees of "solidity", and Special Relativity seems pretty solid at present. The fact that one theory has been proven wrong does not mean that all other theories are *equally* doubtful. My own area of skepticism: I'm not convinced that it's possible for a black hole to come into existence in a finite period of time, from the viewpoint of an outside observer. "Everyone knows that dragons don't exist. But while this simplistic formulation may satisfy the layman, it does not suffice for the scientific mind." - The Cyberiad, by Stanislaw Lem John Roberts roberts@cmr.icst.nbs.gov
jwm@stdb.jhuapl.edu (Jim Meritt) (02/10/89)
In article <8902080259.AA04715@cmr.icst.nbs.gov> roberts@CMR.ICST.NBS.GOV (John Roberts) writes: } }>From: dinl!holroyd@handies.ucar.edu (kevin w. holroyd) }>Subject: Re: Approaching c } }>Just one note of skepticism here... } }>Back in the 1940's when we were attempting to break the sound barrier, }>the aerodynamic equations seemed to indicate the the air loads (the force on }>the wings) would go infinite at Mach speed. Half the aerospace engineers }>seemed to think it was not possible to accomplish. Good thing Chuck Yeager }>wasn't real strong in Math. } }If they really thought air loads would go infinite, they should have known }better. At the time, there were many things which could be made to go faster }than the speed of sound (i.e. many rifle bullets), which were not crushed }by infinite forces. That is a definite charley. There had been manmade objects (well, one I can think of) that had been going faster than sound for centuries. Since it did, it can. Disclaimer: "It's mine! All mine!!!" - D. Duck