I have discussed with my friend that why Kantian cosmology [i.e. belief in a
static and infinite universe] held for around 150 years with few questioning
its validity?

My reasons a

Although it is already the ¡§Enlightenment Period¡¨ when Kantian cosmology
is established, there are few scholars questioning its plausibility. This is
probably because the impact of religion is still at work.

People might think that God does not interact with the universe, but they
still believed that the universe is created by God and they had a model of
how the world is like in their mind. This was a rooted presupposition and
they have never thought of challenging this model.

In addition, after Kant proposed his theory, many scientists and astronomers
supported him because, when they used telescopes to observe the star-systems
and universe, they found that the universe seemed to be static and endless.
They simply believed in Kantian cosmology, as it matched with their
presupposition and therefore did not spend great effort in actually working
out mathematical equation of the universe, like what Einstein did.

Am I right? Or is there any other reason that I haven't thought of?

Thanks for your help~~

Steve

Steve wrote:

I have discussed with my friend that why Kantian cosmology [i.e. belief in a
static and infinite universe] held for around 150 years with few questioning
its validity?
[snip]

Won't work. It won't accommodate the observed red shift or the
observed cosmic background radiation. Ignorance powers religion not
objective reality. That is the definition of religion - irrational
faith. When physical reality bites you in the ass it is a test of
faith.

Won't work. Add one photon and it collapses. Subtract one photon and
it expands forever. You cannot have a Kantian universe for the same
reason you cannot balance a pencil on a sharp point:

Work out the average time an infinitely sharp pencil, balanced
perfectly upright, will take to fall.

Consider a pendulum of length 1 and mass 1. Specify the orientation
by the angle, x(t), measured from the position with the bob vertically
below the suspension point. The potential energy is

V = g * (1-cosx) = 2g * (sin(x/2))^2

Set the initial conditions
x(0) = 0, x'(0) = 2g

The energy

E = 1/2 (x')^2 + 2g * (sin (x/2))^2
dx/dt = sqrt (4g (1 - (sin (x/2))^2)

Then

1/2
/ 1 \
dt = ( __________________ ) dx
\ 4g(1-(sin(x/2))^2 /


The integral of dx from x = 0 to x = a diverges as a-- pi.

What does this say about the pencil balanced on its point?

--
Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" The Net!

On Sat, 4 Oct 2003 14:49:50 +0800, "Steve"
wrote:

I have discussed with my friend that why Kantian cosmology [i.e. belief in a
static and infinite universe] held for around 150 years with few questioning
its validity?

Hubble's constant is roughly 2.6e-18 km/sec/km (77 km/sec/m parsecs)
In a comparison between an expanding model and the Kantian model, the
locations of objects seen in the visible universe differ by less than
1% over a 10 million year period.
John Bailey
http://home.rochester.rr.com/jbxroads/mailto.html