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Re: Are fields real?



I guess that we could say that "fields" are as "real" as anything
else we discuss in physics. (A rose by any other name would......").

Actually, I'm fond of telling my E&M students that when they look up
at a star all they are "seeing" is the EM-field... the star could have
ceased to exist long ago.

Mark Shapiro
http://www.IrascibleProfessor.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Green [mailto:JMGreen@SISNA.COM]
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2000 12:02 PM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: Re: Are fields real?


Whether one uses the word "real" to describe "fields" is a personal choice
-- coupled with one's own vocabulary -- weird as it may be -- followed by
a diatribe about whether anything is real.

But certainly "fields" are an invention not a discovery.

This concept is sometimes actually useful -- especially on Star Trek where
they talk about "force fields" -- The Star Trek people got this by watching
Bill Nye.

At least according to _my_ weird usage.

Jim Green
mailto:JMGreen@sisna.com
http://users.sisna.com/jmgreen