thought experiment

noun

Physics. a demonstration or calculation that is based on the postulates of a theory, as relativity, and that demonstrates or clarifies the consequences of the postulates.

Also called Gedanken experiment.

Origin:
1940–45

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Thought experiment is always a great word to know.

So is joule. Does it mean:

a unit of energy, the work done by a force of one newton when its point of application moves through a distance of one meter in the direction of the force

a very large colliding-beam machine in which superconducting magnets create millions of megavolts of energy

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"The whole of modern thought is steeped in science; it has made its way into the works of all our best poets, and even the mere man of letters, who affects to ignore and despise science, is unconsciously impregnated with her spirit, and indebted for his best products to her methods. I believe that the greatest intellectual revolution mankind has yet seen is now slowly taking place by her agency. She is teaching the world that the ultimate court of appeal is observation and experiment, and not authority; she is teaching it to estimate the value of evidence; she is creating a firm and living faith in the existence of immutable moral and physical laws, perfect obedience to which is the highest possible aim of a intelligent being."

-Thomas Henry Huxley