5/7/2017 SpaceWikipedia

Space
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Spaceistheboundlessthreedimensionalextentinwhichobjectsandevents
haverelativepositionanddirection.[1]Physicalspaceisoftenconceivedinthree
lineardimensions,althoughmodernphysicistsusuallyconsiderit,withtime,tobe
partofaboundlessfourdimensionalcontinuumknownasspacetime.The
conceptofspaceisconsideredtobeoffundamentalimportancetoan
understandingofthephysicaluniverse.However,disagreementcontinues
betweenphilosophersoverwhetheritisitselfanentity,arelationshipbetween
entities,orpartofaconceptualframework.

Debatesconcerningthenature,essenceandthemodeofexistenceofspacedate
backtoantiquitynamely,totreatisesliketheTimaeusofPlato,orSocratesin
hisreflectionsonwhattheGreekscalledkhra(i.e."space"),orinthePhysics
ofAristotle(BookIV,Delta)inthedefinitionoftopos(i.e.place),orinthelater Arighthandedthreedimensional
"geometricalconceptionofplace"as"spacequaextension"intheDiscourseon Cartesiancoordinatesystemusedto
Place(QawlfialMakan)ofthe11thcenturyArabpolymathAlhazen.[2]Many indicatepositionsinspace.
oftheseclassicalphilosophicalquestionswerediscussedintheRenaissanceand
thenreformulatedinthe17thcentury,particularlyduringtheearlydevelopmentof
classicalmechanics.InIsaacNewton'sview,spacewasabsoluteinthesensethatitexistedpermanentlyand
independentlyofwhethertherewasanymatterinthespace.[3]Othernaturalphilosophers,notablyGottfriedLeibniz,
thoughtinsteadthatspacewasinfactacollectionofrelationsbetweenobjects,givenbytheirdistanceanddirectionfrom
oneanother.Inthe18thcentury,thephilosopherandtheologianGeorgeBerkeleyattemptedtorefutethe"visibilityof
spatialdepth"inhisEssayTowardsaNewTheoryofVision.Later,themetaphysicianImmanuelKantsaidthatthe
conceptsofspaceandtimearenotempiricalonesderivedfromexperiencesoftheoutsideworldtheyareelementsofan
alreadygivensystematicframeworkthathumanspossessandusetostructureallexperiences.Kantreferredtothe
experienceof"space"inhisCritiqueofPureReasonasbeingasubjective"pureaprioriformofintuition".

Inthe19thand20thcenturiesmathematiciansbegantoexaminegeometriesthatarenonEuclidean,inwhichspaceis
conceivedascurved,ratherthanflat.AccordingtoAlbertEinstein'stheoryofgeneralrelativity,spacearoundgravitational
fieldsdeviatesfromEuclideanspace.[4]ExperimentaltestsofgeneralrelativityhaveconfirmedthatnonEuclidean
geometriesprovideabettermodelfortheshapeofspace.

Contents
1 Philosophyofspace
1.1 LeibnizandNewton
1.2 Kant
1.3 NonEuclideangeometry
1.4 GaussandPoincar
1.5 Einstein
2 Mathematics
3 Physics
3.1 Classicalmechanics
3.2 Relativity
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