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COMMUNITY PAGE A14 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1990 Ever wonder why The situation was that he had just been sent to his home in the country when he was h:zadent at Cambridge, to escape from the Bubonic Plague which was ravaging the towns and cities of England at the time and, being relieved of his studies and enjoying a change of scenery, he was in a contemplative mood and able to wonder about what he saw, as Leo Rosten points out. Newton did not discover gravity. Everyone knew that things fell down and not up, and learned men of the time accepted the idea as an unknown force but assumed that it was limited to a certain small distance above the ground. Newton‘s great stroke of imagination and wonderment was to ask: could it be that the invisible force that pulled the apple from the tree was the same force that keeps the moon in its orbit? Could it be that the earth not only attracts the moon, but reaghes out far into space? Do the earth, moon, planets, satellites whirl around the sun bound by the sun‘s gravitation? Is gravity found in matter itself, any piece of matter? Is gravitation an invisible binding power which holds the entire universe together? If gravity is such a force, he speculated, it can be measured. And if it can be measured, the entire solar system could be reduced to one mathematical formula! Newton quickly made some calculations and the results were pretty nearly correct, as he found out some 18 years later that his figure for the earth‘s radius was inaccurate. _ I guess most people are familiar with the story of Isaac Newton sitting in the garden and observing an apple fall. Having seen many things fall before, why was this occasion so significant in his life and in the advancement of science? And why, young Newton wondered, did the apple fall straight down and not to one side? Could it be that objects are drawn, not to the earth‘s surface but to its centre? If so, then any weight suspended on a string will immediately point to the centre of the earth and, following this direction, any structure could be erected perpendicular and thus gravity would hold it solidly in place. Of course, science has progressed far beyond Newton‘s mechanical concept of the universe, but in the search for truth it is the nature of science to improve on the old. How else could we progress if we didn‘t build on previous discoveries? Geoff Fellows operates the Human Resource Development Institute, P.O. Box 642, Cambridge N1R 5W1, providing effectiveness training for business and industry. He had the astounding idea that the gravitational pull of any body (diminished with distance and varying according to its size and density) acts as if all of its mass is magically compressed, concentrated in a single point at the centre. If so, the earth, moon and sun itself could be treated as points in space! That‘s quite a long way to come from the contemplation of the simple observation of an apple falling, wouldn‘t you say? But if you think about it, all our present day knowledge has come from someone taking the time to wonder why. Children are constantly doing this and their questions often startle us into ‘wondering why‘ about many things. Newton, a pious man, was horrified. In his Principia, he had written: "This most beautiful system ... could only proceed from the ... dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being." The mathematics of Newton‘s time were too crude to work out the incredibly complex problems, so he improved it by divising the binomial theorem and the differential and integral calculus, as ingenious a device as ever came from mortal mind. It is the basis of all modern mathematics. Like Galileo before him, he was attacked by the Church for the outrageous notion that the universe could be reduced to Since 1974 Whirlpools, Saunas Spas, Hot Tubs PERSPECTIVE Last Sunday, members of the congregation of Trinity Missionâ€" ary Church enjoyed a very special church service â€" the first service held in their newly constructed church on Conservation Drive in Waterloo. But what made the occasion even more special was the ‘fact Volunteer church builders show what can be done when people work together Vojunteer Roy Bretz (left) and Reverend Harvey Fretz help a contractor I@y CArp@t. ~Keren Addertey photo Labor of love Volunteer Sheldon Melitzer refinishes a second hand pew. that most members of the congreâ€" gation played a part in the church‘s construction. It was a true labor of love â€" love for the church, and love for each other. The church‘s construction actuâ€" ally began 10 years ago â€" not its ptlzlsiul construction, bK:lilts spirâ€" i n â€" when memâ€" bers m Heights Missionâ€" ary Church decided to provide an * THE AREA‘S LARGEST SHOWROOM * 41 Models on Display * From $659 NOW ON SALE! House «: Cedar 210 Regina St. N., Waterioo 885â€"1711 Keren Adderiey photo (Continued on page A15) That cut costs, and so did the assistance given by members of the _ congregation. _ Virtually everyone got involved. Volunâ€" teers did most of the framing, including the sheeting on the roof. They did all of the drywallâ€" ing, they assisted the plumbers and . electricians, they painted, and they layed the carpets. Even those who weren‘t inâ€" clined to pick up hammer and nail got into the act. The church‘s ladies‘ group made all of the church‘s draperies, and even small children picked up a paint brush or two and helpe?in areas This year, after the mortgage on the land was paied off, it was fimetogetworki:‘fontheeon- struction of the building to meet the growing needs of the com:â€" muni:{;rl:yl the church‘s pastor Rev. ey Fretz. "We had to get started on the building because the community had started to reach out to us. There were new housing developâ€" ments and the community was growing," Fretz says. The key was to build the church for as little cost as possible, because funds were limited. A contactor was hired from Wayâ€" Mar Construction, but he agreed to volunteer his time, and work on a materialâ€"only basis. â€" school, and later rented facili extension to that church in um( north end of Waterloo. In 1980, a congregation w meeting in Keatsway public in Kitchener. From 1980 to 1986, the cor gation was able to save money, through various ing events, to purchase a parcel land on Conservation Road.