User:MRE/LeSage gravity
When Sir Isaac Newton published his Theory of Universal Gravitation, he declined to offer any hypothesis as to any possible underlying mechanism. In particular, he rejected the "push theory" proposed by his friend Nicholas Fatio. In 1784 Georges-Louis Le Sage (1724-1803) of Geneva re-proposed Fatio's theory[1], claiming it as his own (although he was in possession of Fatio's papers). What came to be known as Le Sage’s theory was studied again in the late nineteenth century, when it was shown by Lord Kelvin to be inconsistent with the then newly discovered kinetic theory of gases and thermodynamics,[2]. Le Sage’s theory reproduces Newton’s law only approximately, although the difference can be made arbitrarily small by adjusting the numerous free parameters. By the end of the 19th century the theory had been discredited, most notably by James Clerk Maxwell.[3] Today Fatio's theory is still advocated only by a few fringe pseudo-scientists.
- ^ Le Sage, G.-L., 1784 (for the year 1782), “Lucrèce Newtonien”, Memoires de l’Academie Royale des Sciences et Belles Lettres de Berlin, 1-28.
- ^ Thomson, W. (Lord Kelvin), 1873. “On the ultramundane corpuscles of LeSage”, Phil. Mag., 4th ser., 45, 321-332.
- ^ Maxwell, J.C., 1875. “Atom”, Encyclopedia Britannica, Ninth Ed., pp. 38-47.