GRAVITATION
Reading edition
The mysterious influence or “pull” which various celestial bodies exert upon one another is known as gravity or gravitation. We know that masses of matter attract one another according to their size; the larger the body, the greater the force exerted, etc. Further, the influence decreases according to a definite law—according to the square of the distance between the two bodies. The innermost nature of gravitation is still largely a mystery—though various ingenious theories have been advanced in order to explain it. (See my article in “The Monist,” for July, 1913, and pp. 44-46 of “New Discoveries in Science” in the present series.) Gravitation is supposed to act throughout the whole Universe, so that all celestial bodies mutually influence one another, to some extent. Its speed, mode or action, etc., as well as its essence or true nature are, however, unknown even yet; they are still unsolved mysteries!