THE EXISTENCE OF ABSOLUTE SPACE

One of the clearest examples showing that classical physics is but a limited case of relativity physics is the history of Newton's famous "bucket experiment." The classicists, such as Newton, the positivists, such as Mach, and the twentieth-century relativity physicists have all referred to this example in defending their conceptions of space. Not only do the various physicists use this example in their discussions of the nature of space, but the current status of discussion about the pail shows that the absolute character of space is still held, although with modifications. The purpose of this paper is to state the history of the discussion concerning the bucket experiment (which is actually just an illustration) intending to show that there are still senses in which space is considered absolute. Newton conceived space to be absolute and claimed to have proof of its absolute nature. He maintained that absolute space is a great void which objects occupy. It exists independently of objects, and if there were no objects, then space would still exist. Thus, this space has a character independent of objects, one of which, as we shall presently see, is to affect objects. Newton's oftquoted definition o