Chapter VII
"The Geometry of Motion"
- All the notions by aid of which we describe and measure change are geometrical, and thus are not real perceptual limits. They are forms distinguishing and classifying the contents of our personal experience under the mixed mode of motion. The principal forms are point-motion, spin of a rigid body, and strain. Motion is found to be relative, never absolute; for example, it is meaningless to speak of the motion of a point without reference to what system is related to the motion of the point.
- An analysis of point-motion leads us to the conceptions of velocity and acceleration. Velocity is a proper measure of the manner in which position is instantaeously changing. Acceleration is a proper measure of how velocity itself is changing. It is found that a motion is fully determined. Theoretically, a complete description of the path and position at each instant of time may be deduced when the velocity in any one position and the acceleration for all positions is given.
- The parallelogram law as the general rule for combining motions is the foundation of the synthesis by which complex motions are constructed out of simple motions.
Read more about this topic: The Grammar Of Science
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