the final theory - anyone read it?

[jnorman]

howdy again - i DL'ed the first chapter of "the final theory" by mark mccutcheon - ( http://www.thefinaltheory.com/pages/1/index.htm ) - and read it, whrein he hints that he has developed some significant new concept which does away with the need for gravitational as a force or even as a field, as per GR. it sounds suspiciously like hooey, but sometimes there can be a germ of truth buried in such thinking. has anyone read the book, or does anyone know more about his ideas? vielen dank.

[HallsofIvy]

Your first reaction was correct- it's hooey. In that first chapter, on gravity, he notes that both Newton and Einstein must be wrong because the earth must use energy to "hold" things in orbit or in position on its surface- and that contradicts "conservation of energy". And you'd better not object that "work" only applies to a force in the same direction as movement- he argues that that is an incorrect definition of work. In other words, his "correct" definition of work (any time you apply any force, you do work) causes the violation of conservation of energy which proves the theory of gravity is wrong!

[jackle]

I think it's a shame. Sometimes I direct people to this web site so they can learn about some of the ideas in modern physics. There is a good chance these people will click on the final theory advert and be even more convinced that modern physics is wrong.