I'm sorry, but I really think this objection is silly. In almost 40 year=
s
of teaching physics I have never known this phraseology to be
mis-interpreted, nor did any danger of this happening ever even occur to =
me
until I first saw it exposed on this list. A language which can peaceabl=
y
live with "lb." as the abbreviation for "pound" has long since learned th=
at
there are more serious battles to wage than the proper choice of a harmle=
ss
sound.
Absolute space, that is to say, the mark to which it would be necessary t=
o
refer the earth to know whether it really moves, has no objective
existence.... The two propositions: "The earth turns round" and "it is mo=
re
convenient to suppose the earth turns round" have the same meaning; there=
is
nothing more in the one than in the other.
-Poincar=E9, Jules Henri (1854-1912): La Science et l'hypoth=E8se.