"[T]he attempts to eiliminate organismic and theological elements from the law of inertia have proved to be of great consequence in the field of "science proper." They have stimulated research for new physical laws. ...Newton described it [absolute space (and time)] as the "sensorium of God"... mechanics were based on the "accidental fact" that the system of fixed stars was... at rest in "absolute space." However, if we examine the two premises... we can draw the simple conclusion: The law of inertia is valid with respect to the fixed stars. ..."Inertia" is then an interaction between material bodies just as much as gravitation is. This point was stressed in the nineteenth century by Ernst Mach, first in a short paper in 1872, and then more elaborately in his book... Mechanics and its Evolution in 1883..."