The great homework debate

HOW does it come about that alongside of the idea of ponderable matter, which is derived by abstraction from everyday life, the physicists set the idea of the existence of another kind of matter, the ether? The explanation is probably to be sought in those phenomena which have given rise to the theory of action at a distance, and in the properties of light which have led to the undulatory theory. Let us devote a little while to the consideration of these two subjects.
Outside of physics we know nothing of action at a distance. When we try to connect cause and effect in the experiences which natural objects afford us, it seems at first as if there were no other mutual actions than those of immediate contact, e.g. the communication of motion by impact, push and pull, heating or inducing combustion by means of a flame, etc. It is true that even in everyday experience weight, which is in a sense action at a distance, plays a very important part. But since in daily experience the weight of bodies meets us as something constant, something not linked to any cause which is variable in time or place, we do not in everyday life speculate as to the cause of gravity, and therefore do not become conscious of its character as action at a distance. It was Newton's theory of gravitation that first assigned a cause for gravity by interpreting it as action at a distance, proceeding from masses. Newton's theory is probably the greatest stride ever made in the upon contact forces as being themselves distant forces which admittedly are observable only at a very small distance and this was the road which Newton's followers, who were entirely under the spell of his doctrine, mostly preferred to take; or by assuming that the Newtonian action at a distance is only apparently immediate action at a distance, but in truth is conveyed by a medium permeating space, whether by movements or by elastic deformation of this medium. Thus the endeavour toward a unified view of the nature of forces leads to the hypothesis of an ether. This hypothesis, to be sure, did not at first bring with it any advance in the theory of gravitation or in physics generally, so that it became customary to treat Newton's law of force as an axiom not further reducible. But the ether hypothesis was bound always to play some part in physical science, even if at first only a latent part.
When in the first half of the nineteenth century the far-reaching similarity was revealed which subsists between the properties of light and those of elastic waves in ponderable bodies, the ether hypothesis found fresh support. 1t appeared beyond question that light must be interpreted as a vibratory process in an elastic, inert medium filling up universal space. It also seemed to be a necessary consequence of the fact that light is capable of polarisation that this medium, the ether, must be of the nature of a solid body, because transverse waves are not possible in a fluid, but only in a solid. Thus the physicists were bound to arrive at the theory of the ``quas-irigid'' luminiferous ether, the parts of which can carry out no movements relatively to one another except the small movements of deformation which correspond to light-waves.
This theory also called the theory of the stationary luminiferous ether moreover found a strong support in an experiment which is also of fundamental importance in the special theory of relativity, the experiment of Fizeau, from which one was obliged to infer that the luminiferous ether does not take part in the movements of bodies. The phenomenon of aberration also favoured the theory of the quasi-rigid ether.

i think homework just tells us not to have family or friend time! it just eats up all of our time when we are going to do the same thing the next day. school is for work, home is for fun. i vote no homework!!

"Last year, my high school sophomore had a minimum of three hours of homework each night. "

And what time does he/she get home?

Most kids are home before 3 or 4, that's plenty of time for homework.

homework is bad for kids, because of there lack of time at home to spend with family, to do chores,and other curricular activities. And we go to school for six and a half hours a day isn't that enough!

i hate homework yay

HELLOS

i like dragons

fish on toast

laff laff

Sophie Ocean wrote:

I posted something big, in all meaning of the term, an hour ago, and it seems like it never appeared on the screen..
Snap before show?
It was my well argumented answer to Port jack from Toronto.
Maybe I came too strong, sometimes I dont even feel it, it comes naturally.
Any idea how to fish it back?
I am not going to write it again, it will be as enjoyable as rewriting the bibe. Well, even less.
MElfan, about calling fox name, I have no problems with it, it isnt my language, so I dont feel it either. Anyway some people deserve it and even beg for it. Beside, whats wrong about being an idiot? you dont need to discriminate so much, some people just are, its life, they just can't do for it. We have to support them, but Ê, thats not their fault, we could shoot them before they had opened their mouth as well. But we are too weak to do so.
Everyone has its burden to bear. Its allright, thats what make the world.

Sure....

ithink that homework is a wasteoftime. the kids couldbe reading, playing, orWTAEVR

-_- abc wrote:

HELLOS

YO

fu

homework is good it gives you something to do. besides other stuff music is cool. though

hi

Hi, i hate homework but i think that its good right know im sitting in a classroom with etienne and soren and doing stuff and yeah im bored

homeowrk is great for u and i do it all the time if u didnt have homework studying and reviewing woulpd be so much harder so if u think that homework suck balls then please tell me becuase u dont have all the correct freakin facts in your head

lazy

I guess if kids had less homework they would have more time to post stupid stuff on here. Kids won't spend more time with family if they didn't have homework. They would do stuff that rots their brains like mindless posting, video games, TV etc.

I have worked in homes with kids up to highschool age and they have never had too much homework. It often becomes an all evening thing because they procrastinate and play around. Homework is absolutely necessary and parents should support the education system (as flawed as it is) by participating in homework time with their kids.

I will say that it seems that homeschool kids learn the same or more material in a lot less time. So if school were more efficient we would need less homework. However, it is not...it is an inefficient government bureaucracy in need of repair.

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