Skip to content

Once a definition of congruence is given, the choice of geometry is no longer in our hands; rather, the geometry is now an empirical fact.

— Hans Reichenbach The Philosophy of Space and Time (1928)

Another quote →

More quotes by Hans Reichenbach

If error is corrected whenever it is recognised as such, the path of error is the path of truth.

Visual forms are not perceived differently from colors or brightness. They are sense qualities, and the visual character of geometry consists in these sense qualities.

The Philosophy of Space and Time (1928)

One definition of simultaneity differs from another because events that are simultaneous for one definition occur successively for another. What may be a simultaneity projection of a moving segment for one definition is a "focal-plane shutter photograph" for another.

The Philosophy of Space and Time (1928)

"If along the path of truth, success (which was often near-failure unnoticed) is subjected to the same scrutiny and desire for improvement as failure, we may find ourselves in closer proximity to trees."

This fact... proves that space measurements are reducible to time measurements. Time is therefore logically prior to space.

The Philosophy of Space and Time (1928)

All Hans Reichenbach quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Hans Reichenbach (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.