In Praise of Gravity



As we can observe everywhere, there are, universally seen and in terms of physics, two forces: gravitational force and centrifugal force. Gravity keeps us and all things on ground of the planet, the centrifugal force of the Earth keeps the planet Earth at a certain distance to the Sun so that life has been able to develop on Earth. Also, the centrifugal force of the moon secures that it does not fall on Earth despite of the gravity of the Earth.

It has nowadays been generally accepted that the existence of the cosmic centrifugal force can be attributed to a super explosion in the beginning, the so-called Big Bang, whose energy entangled all matter concerned to a unity causing the matter to attract each other. However, this is counteracted by the centrifugal force which was simultaneously created. The centrifugal force on its own, resulting from the beginning of the cosmos, would cause all matter to constantly drift apart from each other and this matter would get lost in the vastness of the universe without further implications. It is only the force of gravity that decelerates the expansion and, under appropriate circumstances, effects the concentration of matter from which has emerged the structured cosmos known to us with all its parts.

Due to the gravitational forces, new stars still come into existence, whereas burnt-out old stars shrink more and more under gravity's pressure and form new states of matter which will then explode just like at the beginning of the cosmos, while their energy will again effect the formation of new particle compounds which are known to us as chemical elements. Without these elements and without suns and planets, where these new elements can interact, there would be nothing of what we know.

Thus, gravity cannot be overestimated in its cosmic importance, as it is the force that keeps everything together and has everything more complex as a precondition. Therefore we must not leave its interpretation to people who want to relativise everything in favour of their mechanistic world view. Apart from the Big Bang, however, there is no cause for gravity, but it is a causal force and thus it cannot be relativised. Gravity cannot be "radiated" either, but it is a property of any existing matter that cannot be lost, irrespective of which state of aggregate it is momentarily in.

Every particle and every form of energy has gravitational forces and is subject to the gravity of other bodies. There are no exceptions. Gravity doesn't have to speed through space either in order to effect something, but, since the Big Bang, it has always been at the place of its action, which is why it has no time factor, as Newton had already recognised. On the subatomic level, all matter of our cosmos forms a unity, even though we are used to see its parts separate in order to be able to perceive them better.

We are exposed to gravity every second of our lives, and it is wise to respect it. Even the free fall, during which we do not sense it, is an evidence of gravity. In free fall, as for example with the astronauts and cosmonauts in the orbit, everything falls around the Earth in equal measure. Thus, it would be foolish to deny it, especially since without it there would not even be an orbit, a course around the Earth.

If there is anything that does not need evidence, it is the existence of gravity from which nobody can escape anywhere, as it cannot be shielded either. However, the knowledge of gravity can be used for achieving ambitious goals, as for example in space flights, where today probes are made to land on meteorites in the interplanetary space. So let us be wise and respect what cannot be denied with a clear conscience: The unity of everything existing.

Annotation
The particles and gases remaining between the galaxies form due to their gravity the filaments around a space having become empty. The bubble shape of the cosmos originates from these filaments together with the galaxies.

Translation by Martha Greiner-Jetha (Gröbenzell near Munich, Germany)

© HILLE 2016

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