Authors: Richard Benish
In 1632 Galileo proposed an extremely simple gravity experiment that has yet to be carried out. Its essence is to determine what happens when a test mass is dropped into a hole through the center of a larger source mass. It is a common problem in first year physics courses. Using a modified Cavendish balance or an orbiting satellite, with modern technology the experiment could have been done decades ago. In a seemingly unrelated context, many modern theories in physics have been criticized for their lack of connection with empirical evidence. One of the critics, Jim Baggott, has expounded on the problem in a book and more recently in an article, The Evidence Crisis, posted to the weblog, Scientia Salon. Einstein’s theory of gravity is widely regarded as being supported by empirical evidence throughout its accessible range, from the scale of millimeters to Astronomical Units. Not commonly realized, however, is that, with regard to gravity-induced motion, the evidence excludes the central regions of material bodies over this whole range. Specifically, the gravitational interior solution has not been tested. It is thus argued that here too modern physics suffers an evidence crisis. The lack of evidence in this case pertains to what may be called the most ponderous half of the gravitational Universe, inside matter. This large gap in our empirical knowledge of gravity could be easily filled by conducting Galileo’s experiment. As conscientious scientists, it is argued, this is what we ought to do.
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