04 Jan 2007

delanceyplace.com 01/04/07 - einstein

In today's encore excerpt - a practical application for Einstein's theory of relativity:

"Incredibly, the GPS system now in use requires Einstein's theory of general relativity to achieve its one-meter accuracy ... [otherwise it] would build up errors at the rate of more than 10 kilometers each day. Determinations of the variation in snow depth on Mars using laser ranging data from orbiting spacecraft also incorporate general relativity, and yield values with an unbelievable precision of 10 centimeters. Certainly, at the time it was developed, no one—not even Einstein—anticipated such practical applications of a theory as abstract as general relativity."

author:

 Lisa Randall

title:

 Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions

publisher:

 Harper Perennial

date:

 Copyright 2005 by Lisa Randall

pages:

 84-85
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COMMENTS (1)

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clydesan

7 hours ago
There's a typo in the first quoted sentence that makes the sentence nonsense: the word "memory" is mistakenly omitted.
You have "The big debate among memory theorists over the last hundred years has been about whether human and animal is relational or absolute."
The actual quote in the book is:
"The big debate among memory theorists over the last hundred years has been about whether human and animal memory is relational or absolute."