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Classical physics and the Newtonian absolute time
Sir Isaac Newton is undoubtedly the father of the modern scientific concept of time.1After the publication of Philosphiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica,2known as the Principia, in 1687, Newton's notion of absolute time dominated the world of physics for the next two hundred years. He defines absolute time by distinguishing it from its opposite, namely, relative time:
Absolute, true, and mathematical time, in and of itself and of its own nature, without relation to anything external, flows uniformly and by another name is called duration. Relative, apparent, and common time is any sensible and external measure (precise or imprecise) of duration by means of motion; such a measure - for example, an hour, a day, a month, a year - is commonly used instead of true time. 3
Newton's relative time is something like the traditional Aristotelian notion of time, which cannot be separated from motion for it is measured by the means of motion and, therefore, it is the measure itself. On the contrary, absolute time is distinguished from relative time by 'the equation or correction of the apparent time'. Newtonian absolute time can exist independently, namely, without any motion and measurement. 4Absolute time does not, like relative time, derive from motion and measure. On the contrary, it should be understood as a kind of transcendent measurement, which is a result of rational imagination rather than empirical observation. For example, when I agree to meet someone at 10:00 am, and my watch shows it is 10:02 and my colleague's watch shows it is 9:59, obviously we are unable to tell the exact time. In Newton's opinion, however, there must be an absolute punctual time, in spite of the difference between the indications of our watches. 5Thus, the relationship between absolute time and relative time is akin to that between the Platonic idea and its corresponding physical object. For Plato, the object is brought into being by 'imitating' the idea but cannot achieve the latter's perfection; for Newton, thereby, relative time imitates absolute time but can never attain it perfectly. Like the Platonic idea, absolute time may only be realised and actualised by God:
He...