19
What David had used to demonstrate the effect of gravity, that lunchtime was nothing new in science circles? Indeed, similar models – usually computer generated – were often shown to describe the effects of gravity and it was widely accepted that the greater the mass the greater the gravity. It is also well understood that mass and size are not related. Thus a gaseous planet such as Jupiter can have less mass than a very dense solid object in space.
It is also well understood that momentum is a product of mass and velocity and that velocity is measured by comparing distance with time taken to travel that distance.
David was having some concerns over the way his model was working.
If our universe was contained merely because it had erupted out of ‘bigger’ space, his fourth dimension, and if this fourth dimension was really the time dimension, then what David was doing was creating a link between time and gravity.
That such a relationship existed was not a problem. The problem was that David couldn’t recall ever having read of such a relationship and that bothered him.
The rationale for this latest idea had evolved out his discussions with Helen and later with Brian.
He had satisfactorily demonstrated that from within any dimensional environment, perception of an environment with an added dimension was almost beyond comprehension. Thus life in a tube could not know of life in an adjacent tube and would not recognise another tube even if it crossed right in front of it, seeing only the part of the other tube that was directly ahead.
He was particularly pleased with his argument that had determined that from within any dimension physical constraints would render casual transfer almost impossible and that recognition of the boundary would be unlikely given that the transition point would be alien to everything else within the universe.
However, that same boundary would be nothing more fascinating than (say) the skin of a bubble when looked at from outside the environment.
He was also happy with the hypothesis that time was a product of being inside a universe which was ‘travelling’ within the fourth dimension, given that the universe was a temporary creation within the fourth dimension of ‘bigger space’ always seeking to return to a normal state it seemed entirely reasonable that time would be nothing more than the drag felt as a result of that apparent movement. (Much like a headwind generated by a car or a running person on an otherwise still day)
The new part, the part that was concerning David was that if Time was the friction slowing things within the universe and causing them to return to the norm of the fourth dimension and the physical manifestation of that effect was gravity then he was looking at, what he believed was, a largely un-explored phenomenon and David wasn’t sure he wanted that responsibility.