Spencer Heath Archive

Item 51

Penciling by Heath

No date

 

 

    A swimmer cannot swim in land. All his swimming, from beginning to end, must be in the water. He starts from a place or point in the water and finishes his swimming at some place or point in the water. If his speed and direction are uniform and he swims for equal times (or distances) in opposite directions, he will finish always at his point of starting. No uniform movement of the water — uniform in both direction and velocity — could affect this result.

     If a ray of light leaves a point on the earth and enters a point in an ether stream and moves at right angles across that stream for a given distance and back at a con­stant velocity it will return to the same point in the stream, but this point will be adjacent a different point on the earth by the amount of movement of the stream.

     If another ray of light moves parallel with the stream for the same distance and time and similarly returns it will arrive at the same point in the stream adjacent the same point on the earth at the same time.

     If now both rays continue back to the point where they left the earth they will have the same distance to go and arrive at the same time

     It matters not what be the uniform velocity and direc­tion of the stream

 

     The swimmers start to swim not from a point on the land but from a point in the stream, and they finish their swimming not on the land but at some point in the stream.

     If they swim each at the same speed, in whatever direction or directions, for any time or distance and return in reverse direction, they will return to the same point in the stream whence they both started. It does not matter what be the uniform velocity or direction of the stream.

     If the water has neither velocity nor direction — if it is not a stream — the result is still the same