Читать книгу A Theory of the Mechanism of Survival: The Fourth Dimension and Its Applications онлайн

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Let me start, then, by defining what is meant by a Dimension. The best definition I can think of is to say that, in the sense in which the word is used here, a Dimension means "An independent direction in space."

I must amplify this by saying that, "Two directions in space are to be considered as independent when they are so related that no movement, however great, along one of them will result in the slightest movement along, or parallel to, the other. That is to say, at right angles, or perpendicular to one another."

Fig. 1

Thus in Fig. 1 AOA´ and BOB´ are independent directions. One might move for ever along OA or OA´ and yet one would not have moved in the very least in the direction of OB or of OB´.

Now on a flat surface, such as a sheet of paper, it is not possible to draw more than two such directions. Any other line that can be drawn, XOX´ for instance, is in a compound direction, so to speak. That is to say it is partly in the direction AOA´ and partly in the direction BOB´ and it is possible to reach any point in it, Y for example, by moving along OA´ to a and then moving in the direction of OB´ a distance equal to Ob, or vice versa or by doing the two simultaneously.