..續本文上一頁re matter, and can be transmitted through empty space. He negated the existence of ether. He also proved that there are areas where Newtonian physics cannot be successfully applied. The validity of the theory of relativity suggests that absolute vacuum does not exist.

　　中國春秋戰國以前(公元前七七六以前)，在西周時就以壺漏測時，以圭表測 影，以定方向、定節氣，人們對宇宙萬物本源，作了最初的探索。提出了「五行」說，認爲宇宙萬物是由「金、木、水、火、土」五種基本元素構成的；

　　Prior to the Warring States era and the Spring and Autumn period in China, during the Western Zhou dynasty before 776 b.c., time was measured using a leaking vessel. In order to determine the wind”s direction and the twenty-four periods of the lunar year the Chinese used a sundial, measuring the shadow cast by a jade tablet with a square base and a pointed top. These instruments are examples of some of the early methods of investigation people used in order to penetrate the origin and source of the myriad things in the universe. Also in China, the theory of the five elements was proposed, suggesting that the myriad things in the universe were formed from the five basic elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

　　提出了「陰 陽」說，以陰與陽的矛盾運動解釋種種自然現象；還有八卦說，以線段「－」和「－」來表示陰陽，每叁個一組，組成基本符號，各代表一定屬性的事物(如「¡ 」代表水)，即八卦，又以它們的排列組合形成64卦，384爻，以此解釋自然現象的千變萬化。

　　The theory of yin and yang was also formulated in China. This theory used the contradicting and opposing motion of yin and yang to explain all kinds of phenomena and events in nature. A theory concerning the hexagrams of the Yi Jing (Book of Changes) was also formulated. The broken and unbroken lines in these symbols denote yin and yang. In groups of three, the lines form trigrams, basic symbols that represent the occurrence of specific events. For example ( ) represents water. The combinations and permutations together give a total of sixty-four gua (hexagrams) and three hundred and eighty-four yao (the inpidual lines in the hexagrams) which are used to explain the ever-changing phenomena in nature.

　　管子在《管子水地篇》中說，水是萬物統一的本源。公元前四世紀的宋钘和尹文 提出宇宙萬物－于「氣」的學說。在中國以後的曆史時期，「元氣」說有了發展。

　　In the Water and Earth Chapter of Guan Zhi”s treatise it is said that water unites the source of myriad things. (Guan Zhi was also known as Guan Zhong, (d. 644 b.c.), the prime minister of the state of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period.) In the fourth century b.c., Song Yan and Yin Wen proposed the theory of energy (in Chinese, qi), which stated that energy unites the myriad things in the universe. This theory had its impact on the development of the theory of primal energy that was developed later in China.

　　墨翟所著《墨經》，記載了時空觀念和機械運動《經上》分別用「彌異時」、 「彌異所」來定義時間和空間，即綜合具體的「時」與「所」，形成「時間」(久)與「空間」(宇)的觀念，墨子認爲「運動」，就是物體位置遷移；「靜止」 (止)就是物體在某處停留有一定的時間。由于有了類似于「瞬時」(無久)的觀念，因此對運動的分析比較深刻，他闡明了物體運動，時間有密切聯系。《墨經》 中還有原始的元素論與物質不滅的樸素思想。

　　In the book Mo Jing by Mo Zi, the concepts of time and space as well as a dynamic of mechanics were recorded, in which time and space were defined as “mi dao time” and “mi dao place.” Thus a definite time and place were synthesized, and the concepts of time (jiu) and space (zhou) were formulated. Mo Zi was of the opinion that motion refers to a change in the positions of objects, while stillness (zhi) refers to objects remaining stationary at a certain position for a certain period of time. Mo Zi carried his in-depth analysis on motion further in discussing the concept of “an instant” (wu jiu) He explained that there is an intimate relationship between the motion and time of objects. In Mo Jing, Mo Zi also suggests that matter cannot be destroyed. An early version of the theory of elements was also proposed here.

　　亞裏士多德，古希臘哲學家「形式邏輯」的創始人(公元前叁八四至前叁二二 年)，他主張物質空間與時間的聯續性，反對存在「真空」的觀點；他認爲感性知覺通過理性活動，可以一下子到達普通抽象的頂點。他列舉出物質的運動變化有 「四因」：形式因、目的因、原料因和動力因。一切物體都具有某種天賦的目的或「自然的本性」，天體永圍地球這一宇宙中心作勻速圓周運動，組成地上物體四種 基本元素(水、火、氣、土)，「趨向于自己特有的空間」，具有尋找自己「天然處所」並停留在那裏的本性，從而形成重者向下，輕者向上的「天然運動」(因本 性運動)。

　　The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 b.c.), the founder of formalistic logic, suggested the continuity of space and time for matter. He disagreed with the concept of vacuum and postulated that through intellectual reasoning and activity sense perception can reach the peak of ordinary abstract ideas. Four factors that influence changes in the motion of physical bodies are: the apparent cause, the teleological cause, material, and momentum. All matter is endowed with a certain aim or “natural substance” Heavenly bodies constantly orbit around the earth at constant velocities (earth being the center of the Aristotelian universe) and form the four basic elements of water, fire, air, and earth, which contitute all matter on earth. Inclining towards or converging at a specific space belonging to it, matter finds its state of equilibrium and tends to dwell at that location. Thus according to their natural motion, heavy substances sink and light ones rise; this motion is due to their inherent nature.

　　俄國化學家門捷列夫，最早比較完整的于一八六九至一八七一年，根據「元素周 期表」六十叁種元素的原子量順序排列的表中，他還預言了叁個空位所代表的，尚未發現的元素的性質，這些元素分別是類鋁(镓)類矽(鍺)，不久它們都先後發 現了，測得化學與物理性質和門捷列夫預言的基本一致，現已由人工合成了108和109號元素。

　　Between 1869 and 1871, the Russian chemist Dmitri I. Mendeleyev was the first one to comprehensively arrange the periodic table. Based on the ascending order of the atomic numbers of the sixty-three elements, he predicted the properties of three undiscovered elements. These elements were isotopes of aluminum and curium, which were discovered later. The actual measured chemical and physical properties basically agree with Mendeleyev”s prediction. They have been artifficially fused together as element 108 and element 109.

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