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Until someone has actually produced a Unified Theory, I won't be certain they can. And until it never has been done, I shan't decide there can be no Grand Unified salvation theory either - simply that we aren't thinking about it the right way or don't know enough is just as good an explanation.

Also, we haven't stopped using Newton just because the theory has flaws - it's a simpler way to look at some aspects of the problem while disregarding others. Lots of science works like that - like the whole assume your pipe of diameter 5 cm has an infinite radius - it's a decent approximation, so it will do. When they get a round tuit or an inspiration scientists refine these models, but we all still learn them first...

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it's a simpler way to look at some aspects of the problem while disregarding others. Lots of science works like that - like the whole assume your pipe of diameter 5 cm has an infinite radius

Even when the result of disregarding that aspect results in a bizarre anomaly (π=infinity)!*

*Is there a way of getting an infinity symbol in html? I tried &infinity; but got &infinity;

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It only results in a bizarre anomaly if you step outside the limits of your assumption. What

claroscuro's assumption says is that we are actually looking at a portion of the pipe sufficiently near to the centre that the effect of the pipe wall, and of its shape, are negligible. If you want to start calculating things about the pipe, rather than the flow through it, it's a fairly rotten assumption.

∞ gives you ∞.

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Matthew's Journal

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October