Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Simple Machines

"Gravity doesn't stop. It's exponential," said Newton. "Everything is falling, all the time."

"I'm not!" said the Quark.

"You don't count," snapped Newton. "It only stops when the force is countered. You don't stand on the ground; the ground holds you up. And even that is illusory because whatever holds you is falling, too. What was it Archimedes said? A long enough lever and a place to stand can move the world?" For a brief moment, Newton tumbled headlong in silence and darkness. Or, for all he knew, flew perfectly straight. "It's the place to stand that's really the problem."

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