Finally, a debate

I was pleased to learn that Sirius Astronomer, a publication of the Orange County Astronomy Club, published one of my articles on gravity recently. But I was more excited to find out that a reader had written to the editor about it.

Donald Lynn, a respected member of the club, expressed concerns that my article was reported as a scientific fact rather than a scientific theory. As proof, he cited the Michelson-Morley experiment to refute my theory that gravity is an effect of matter meeting resistance in space. He wrote:

"The theory that the fabric of space presents resistance was thoroughly disproved by the Michelson-Morley experiment in 1887, at least insofar as resistance to light. If one wishes to claim resistance affects matter but not light, then one has to disprove General Relativity, which claims gravity affects both light and matter."

I responded to his letter with my own. I said:

"The Michelson-Morley experiment did not, as Mr. Lynn states in his letter, disprove 'the theory that the fabric of space presents resistance.' That experiment disproved the existence of a 'luminiferous aether,' a theoretical medium through which light traveled.

"The 'fabric of space,' as used in my article, is equated with Albert Einstein's reference to 'space-time' in his theory on general relativity. And Einstein's work did not discard the notion of resistance. He said in 1920:

“'...More careful reflection teaches us, however, that the special theory of relativity does not compel us to deny ether. We may assume the existence of an ether... Recapitulating, we may say that according to the general theory of relativity space is endowed with physical qualities; in this sense, therefore, there exists an ether... According to the general theory of relativity space without ether is unthinkable . . .'

Citing Einstein, I think I won this debate about my theory. In other words, I think I showed that my theory is consistent with general relativity.

I do not boast because, afterall, I am just a self-taught, amateur astronomer. But I am confident in my logic: If the Big Bang is moving galaxies, stars and planets through space in the cosmos, then it is moving objects through space on Earth. In other words, gravity is an apparent effect of the Big Bang.

To read more, check out http://www.ocastronomers.org/e-zine/sirius_astronomer/SA_2008_02.pdf