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Understanding Weather and Climate 6th Edition Aguado Test Bank instant download all chapter
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Understanding Weather and Climate, 6e (Aguado)
Chapter 7 Precipitation Processes
3) The process by which supercooled water droplets freeze onto falling ice crystals is called:
A) riming.
B) aggregation.
C) cold-cloud condensation.
D) Bergeron bonding.
Answer: A
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1
1
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
5) Raindrops fall because:
A) they are large compared to atmospheric molecules.
B) they are small compared to atmospheric molecules.
C) they become large enough that gravity can pull them out of the sky.
D) they roll down isentropic surfaces and can't be stopped.
Answer: C
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1
2
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
9) During coalescence, the percentage of colliding droplets that join together is called the:
A) droplet collection coefficient.
B) coalescence efficiency.
C) rain potential efficiency.
D) coalescence condensation collection factor.
E) none of the above
Answer: B
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G4
12) Drag between the droplet and surrounding air depends on:
A) the rate of fall.
B) the size of the droplet.
C) both A and B
D) none of the above
Answer: C
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
13) Formation of ice crystals can occur with saturation at temperatures between:
A) 0 and 5 degrees C.
B) 0 and -5 degrees C.
C) -4 and -40 degrees C.
D) -40 and -60 degrees C.
Answer: C
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4; G7
3
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
14) Ice crystal growth rates are enhanced by which of the following?
A) deposition of water vapor to ice alone
B) riming
C) aggregation
D) all of the above
Answer: D
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
18) A collector drop will have the highest collision efficiency with this size drop:
A) drops that are much larger.
B) drops that are about the same size.
C) drops that are somewhat smaller.
D) drops that are very much smaller.
Answer: A
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4
4
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
19) Cool clouds:
A) contain no water droplets above 0 degrees Celsius.
B) contain substantial numbers of ice crystals at all elevations within the clouds.
C) have regions with above-freezing temperatures.
D) typically form precipitation through the collision-coalescence process.
Answer: C
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4; G7
21) Of the following steps in the Bergeron process, which should be second?
A) formation of rain drops
B) the falling of ice crystals through the cloud
C) deposition of water vapor on ice
D) net evaporation from supercooled water droplets
Answer: C
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
22) Aggregation:
A) is the first step of the Bergeron process.
B) works best when the cloud temperature is -10 degrees Celsius or colder.
C) is facilitated by a thin coating of water on ice crystals.
D) is another term for riming.
Answer: C
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
25) Which of the following geographic areas are associated with the collision-coalescence process?
A) polar areas
B) high latitude
C) mid-latitudes
D) tropics
Answer: D
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis; Application
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5
26) The most important principle underlying the Bergeron process is this:
A) for a given temperature, the saturation vapor pressure of ice is less than that for supercooled water.
B) large drops fall faster than smaller drops.
C) aggregation takes place more rapidly than accretion.
D) the bottom part of the cloud where the process is taking place must be warmer than 0 degrees
Celsius.
Answer: A
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis; Evaluation
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
6
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
28) In the winter of 1976-77, areas of northern New York state received:
A) 10 feet.
B) 17 feet.
C) 25 feet.
D) 33 feet.
Answer: D
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G4; G5
29) The greatest recorded seasonal snowfall ever recorded in the United States was recorded at Mt.
Baker Lodge in Washington, with an amount of:
A) 33 feet.
B) 67 feet.
C) 90 feet.
D) 110 feet.
Answer: C
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G4; G5
7
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
32) Which of the following is a widely held misconception about snowfall and temperature?
A) It's too cold to snow.
B) It's too cold to snow a lot.
C) Snow only falls at the freezing point.
D) none of the above
Answer: A
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1
34) In comparison to liquid water, the density of the ice in hail is:
A) 50% of water.
B) 70% of water.
C) 90% of water.
D) no difference
Answer: C
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4
35) In the western part of North America, snowfall distribution is primarily dependent upon:
A) latitude.
B) the presence of major north-south mountain ranges.
C) proximity to Mexico.
D) the location of large lakes.
Answer: B
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5
8
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
37) In middle latitudes, rain:
A) usually begins as snow.
B) is formed by the collision-coalescence process.
C) is less common than in high latitudes.
D) is incapable of turning to sleet.
Answer: A
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5
39) Rainshowers:
A) typically come from cumuliform clouds.
B) are, by definition, periods of rain that last for at least one hour.
C) have only one size of raindrop.
D) usually have their origin in orographic lifting.
Answer: A
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
41) Graupel:
A) has sharp edges.
B) can be as large as hail.
C) can provide the nuclei for hail.
D) does not contain air bubbles.
Answer: C
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
9
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
42) Hail:
A) requires very strong downdrafts.
B) most frequently occurs in sizes greater than two centimeters in diameter.
C) can provide the nucleus for graupel formation.
D) usually forms in cumuliform clouds.
Answer: D
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
43) Sleet:
A) requires the presence of a warmer above-freezing inversion layer.
B) freezes immediately upon touching the surface.
C) is usually associated with a cold front.
D) is more dangerous than freezing rain.
Answer: A
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
48) With reference to the Great Lakes, which of the following mechanisms are favorable for
precipitation in that area?
A) initial mechanism for uplift
B) unstable air
C) sufficient moisture
D) all of the above
Answer: D
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5
11
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
51) Wet growth of a hailstone occurs in an environment
A) with weak upper-level winds.
B) where the temperature is well below freezing.
C) where repeated trips are made through a cloud.
D) where the temperature is near freezing.
Answer: D
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
53) Given that the diameter of the average raindrop is 100 times that of the average cloud droplet, the
volume of the average raindrop is about this many times greater than that of the average cloud droplet:
A) 100 times.
B) 1000 times.
C) 10000 times.
D) 1000000 times.
Answer: D
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4; G7
12
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
55) Snowflakes:
A) rarely exceed a tenth of a millimeter in size.
B) form different crystal patterns in different parts of the country.
C) will grow very different types of crystals even at the exact same conditions.
D) can be a combination of several different forms.
Answer: D
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4; G7
58) The growth of ice crystals in the Bergeron-Findeisen process occurs because:
A) the relative humidity is higher in a cold cloud than in a warm cloud.
B) of the difference between saturation vapor pressure between ice and water.
C) liquid water is attracted to ice because of an electrical charge differential.
D) updrafts are extremely strong during the Bergeron-Findeisen process.
Answer: B
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
13
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
60) Globally, annual precipitation amounts are highest in the:
A) mid-latitudes.
B) tropical rain forests of South America and Africa.
C) east coast of Asia.
D) northern Europe.
Answer: B
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis; Evaluation
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4; G5
63) In the United States, hail is most common in which of the following regions?
A) West Coast
B) East Coast
C) Great Plains
D) Gulf Coast
Answer: C
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Evaluation
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5
14
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
65) The typical snow to rain water equivalent ratio is
A) 10:1.
B) 1:10.
C) 100:1.
D) 1:65.
E) 3:4.
Answer: A
Section: 7.3 Measuring Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4; G5
67) Schaefer and Langmuir discovered that dry ice could be used as a cloud seeding agent during which
decade?
A) 1940s
B) 1920s
C) 1960s
D) 1970s
Answer: A
Section: 7.4 Cloud Seeding
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G5
15
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
69) Which of the following weather modification efforts has been the most successful?
A) hail suppression in New York
B) hurricane suppression along the Gulf Coast
C) snowfall enhancement in Colorado
D) fog dissipation in Montana
Answer: D
Section: 7.4 Cloud Seeding
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Evaluation
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5
70) Growth of cloud droplets solely through condensation cannot produce precipitation.
Answer: TRUE
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1
71) A cool cloud can contain water vapor, liquid water, supercooled water, and frozen water.
Answer: TRUE
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
72) The Bergeron process would not take place if the saturation vapor pressure of supercooled water
were greater than the saturation vapor pressure of ice, assuming both were at the same temperature.
Answer: TRUE
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4
74) If all of an ice crystal forms under similar conditions, its structure will likely be complex.
Answer: FALSE
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
16
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
76) When the radius of a small droplet increases, the force of gravity increases more than does the force
of drag.
Answer: TRUE
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4; G7
78) In some areas above the polar circles, it can actually be too cold to snow.
Answer: FALSE
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1
81) In the middle latitudes, most rainfall results from the melting of falling snow.
Answer: TRUE
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G5
82) The formation of hail requires multiple upward and downward trips through a cloud.
Answer: FALSE
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1
17
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
84) Stronger updrafts lead to larger hailstones.
Answer: TRUE
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
85) Weather radar relies on the continuous emission of radiation to the tops of clouds.
Answer: FALSE
Section: 7.3 Measuring Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1
87) Precipitation data for the oceans is more reliable than precipitation data for land.
Answer: FALSE
Section: 7.3 Measuring Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5
88) Many meteorologists are skeptical about the effectiveness of cloud seeding.
Answer: TRUE
Section: 7.4 Cloud Seeding
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G5
89) When friction force counterbalances gravity for a falling object, that object has reached ________.
Answer: terminal velocity
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G4
91) The percentage of droplets that collide with each other and then join is called the ________.
Answer: coalescence efficiency
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G4
18
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
92) Snow that forms under very cold conditions is the kind skiers call ________.
Answer: powder
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G5
94) These are a mixture of ice and supercooled water in which the Bergeron process can take place:
________.
Answer: cold clouds
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
97) Describe in detail the formation of precipitation in both the collision-coalescence process and the
Bergeron process.
Answer:
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
98) Describe the important steps and processes of the formation of precipitation in the Bergeron process,
starting with a mixture of small ice crystals and supercooled water droplets and ending with the
dropping of precipitation from a cloud.
Answer:
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
19
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
99) A typical raindrop contains one million times the water volume of a cloud droplet. Explain how this
huge increase in water volume occurs.
Answer: Initial growth through condensation occurs but this is not adequate to produce precipitation.
The collision-coalescence process and the Bergeron process operate to grow precipitation size elements.
The collision-coalescence process operates through the collision and merging of different size drops in
warm clouds where the temperature is above freezing. The Bergeron process occurs in clouds that are
below freezing and therefore have a supply of supercooled drops and ice crystals. Riming and
aggregation are important agents for achieving precipitation.
Section: 7.1 Growth of Cloud Droplets
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis; Synthesis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4
101) The structure of an ice crystal is mostly determined by the ________ and ________ profiles in the
atmosphere.
Answer: temperature; moisture
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G7
103) Cold air traveling south over Lake Michigan in late autumn can create this: ________.
Answer: lake-effect snow
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Application
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G5
104) What are the factors that can affect the size and shape of snow crystals?
Answer:
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
20
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
106) Explain the effect of hail size on damage.
Answer: The kinetic energy of a falling hailstone is proportional to the fourth power of its radius. For
example, if the size of a hailstone doubles, the damage potential increases sixteen times.
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G4; G5; G7
107) This form of precipitation, ________, has a similar formation process as sleet.
Answer: freezing rain
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
108) What are the conditions that lead to lake-effect snow? Why does the effect only extend for a few
miles?
Answer:
Section: 7.2 Distribution and Forms of Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis; Application
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5
111) Describe two types of rain gauges and two types of snow gauges.
Answer:
Section: 7.3 Measuring Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2
21
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
113) How does weather radar estimate precipitation amounts and distances?
Answer:
Section: 7.3 Measuring Precipitation
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis; Synthesis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5; G7
114) The agent ________ is used in cloud seeding in the hope that it will act as an ice nucleus.
Answer: silver iodide
Section: 7.4 Cloud Seeding
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge
Glob Sci Outcome: G1
115) State two reasons why many scientists question the value of cloud seeding for enhancing
precipitation.
Answer: Any two of the following:
(i) ethical concerns
(ii) legal issues
(iii) inconsistent results
(iv) cost-effectiveness
(v) cloud seeding based on limited cause-and-effect knowledge
Section: 7.4 Cloud Seeding
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Analysis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5
116) Describe the two main methods of cloud seeding and evaluate how effective cloud seeding efforts
have been.
Answer:
Section: 7.4 Cloud Seeding
Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge; Comprehension; Evaluation; Synthesis
Glob Sci Outcome: G1; G2; G5
22
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
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are at least the two different sides of one and the same coin. There
is, then, no longer a material mass. There is nothing but energy in
the external universe. A strange—in a sense, an almost spiritual—
turn for modern physics to take!
According to all this the greater part of the “mass” of bodies must
be due to a considerable and concealed internal energy. It is this
energy which we find gradually dissipated in radio-active bodies, the
only reservoirs of atomic energy which have as yet opened
externally.
If this is true, if energy and mass are synonymous, if mass is
merely energy, it follows that free energy must possess the property
of mass. As a matter of fact, light, for instance, has mass. Careful
experiments have shown that when a ray of light strikes a material
object, it exerts upon it a pressure which has been measured. Light
has mass; therefore it has weight, like all masses. When we come to
consider the new form given by Einstein to the problem of
gravitation, we shall see a further and beautiful proof that light has
weight.
We can calculate that the light received from the sun by the earth
in the space of a year is rather more than 58,000 tons. It seems very
little when one thinks of the formidable weight of coal that would be
needed to maintain our globe at the temperature at which the sun
keeps it—in the event of a sudden extinction of our luminary.
The reason for the difference is that, when we produce heat from
a certain amount of coal, we use only a small proportion of its total
energy, its chemical energy. Its intra-atomic energy is inaccessible to
us. It is a pity, as otherwise we should need only a few ounces of
coal to supply heat for a whole year to all the towns and workshops
of England! How many problems that would simplify! When humanity
emerges from the ignorance and the clumsy barbarism in which it
lives to-day—that is to say, in some hundreds of centuries—this will
be accomplished. Yes, it will one day be done. It will be a glorious
spectacle, one in which we may justly rejoice in advance.
Meantime, our sun, like all the other stars, like every
incandescent body, loses its weight in proportion as it radiates. But
this happens so slowly that we need not fear to see it disappear at
some early date, like the ephemeral things which die because they
gave themselves too freely.
This belief, that an object left freely to itself and not acted upon
by any force preserves its velocity and direction, cannot pretend to
be more than an experimental truth. But the observations on which it
is based, especially those of Galileo, but any that may be imagined
by physicists, could not possibly be conclusive, because in practice it
is impossible to protect a moving body from every external force,
such as atmospheric resistance, friction, or other.
I am aware that Newton grounded his principle on astronomical
as well as terrestrial observations. He noticed that, apart from any
attraction by other celestial bodies, and as far as we can see, the
planets seem to maintain their direction and velocity relatively to the
vault of heaven. But Relativists think that the words I have italicised
in the preceding sentence, which reflect Newton’s idea, really beg
the question. His argument assumes that the planets do not circulate
freely; that they are governed in their motions by a force which he
called universal attraction.
We shall see how Einstein came to think that this is not a force,
and in that case the issue of the argument is very different. However
that may be, the classical principle of inertia is a truth based upon
(imperfect) experience, and it is therefore subject to the constant
control of facts. All that we can say about it is that practically—that is
to say, approximately—it harmonises with what we find.
Newton did not regard it as such, not as a more or less precise
approximation, but as a strict truth. That is why, when he saw that
the planets do not travel in straight lines but in curved orbits, he
concluded—which is a petitio principii—that they were subject to a
central force, gravitation. That is why heavy bodies did not seem to
him amenable to the mechanical laws which he had formulated for
bodies left freely to themselves. That is why, in a word, Newton’s law
of gravitation and his laws of dynamics are two distinct and separate
things.
The great genius, the mind which had no equal, was
nevertheless human. The immortal Descartes put forward strange
statements and very occult hypotheses (about the pineal gland and
animal spirits), after he had expressly resolved to affirm nothing that
he did not perceive clearly and distinctly. In the same way Newton,
after laying down as his principle Hypotheses non fingo, put the
hypotheses of absolute time and space at the very basis of his
mechanics. At the basis of his masterly theory of gravitation he put
the hypothesis—which is a priori easier to admit—that there is a
special force of gravitation.
These are weaknesses which the greatest of men do not escape.
They ought to make us admire all the more the finer aspects of their
work. So deep is the furrow ploughed by these great students of the
unknown that, even when it is not straight, it takes two centuries and
a half before men dream of inquiring afresh whether Newton’s
distinction between purely mechanical and gravitational phenomena
was just.
It is the signal distinction of Einstein that he successfully
accomplished this: that, after erasing many things which were
supposed to be finally settled, he blended mechanics and gravitation
in a superb synthesis, and enabled us to see more clearly the
sublime unity of the world.
Let us suppose our dream fulfilled. The lift falls from above with
precisely the accelerated velocity of an object falling in a vacuum.
If the passengers have kept cool enough in their giddy rush
downward to observe what happens, they will notice that their feet
cease to press against the floor of the lift. They can imagine
themselves like La Fontaine’s charming and poetic princess:
No blade of grass had felt
The light traces of her steps.