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A thought experiment (from the German gedankenexperiment) is a proposal for an experiment that would test a hypothesis or theory but cannot actually be performed due to practical limitations; instead its purpose is to explore the potential consequences of the principle in question. Famous examples of thought experiments include Schroedinger's cat, illustrating quantum indeterminacy through the manipulation of a perfectly sealed environment and a single radioactive atom, and Maxwell's demon, in which a supernatural being is instructed to attempt to violate the second law of thermodynamics. The contemporary philosopher, Martin Cohen puts it, "much of modern physics is built not upon measurement but on thought experimentation".[1] As Cohen argues, the Renaissance period and the Enlightenment were characterized by breakthroughs in ways of seeing the world, not merely by new methods (and tools) for 'measuring' it. Thus it is that perhaps the key experiment in the history of modern science, again toppling the lofty but inaccurate view of Aristotle, is Galileo's (Galileo Galilei) demonstration that falling objects must fall at the same rate regardless of their masses. This is widely thought [2] to have been a straightforward physical demonstration, involving climbing up the Leaning Tower of Pisa and dropping two heavy weights off it, whereas in fact, it was clearly a logical demonstration, using the 'thought experiment' technique. The 'experiment is described by Galileo in Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche (1628) (literally, 'Mathematical Discourses and Demonstrations') thus "Galileo on Aristotle and Acceleration". Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
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