“Although the classic theoretical foundation of distance measurement in physics is the 'rigid rod', nearly all distances in surveying, whether terrestrial or celestial, are made to depend on the properties of light. The two simplest properties so employed are the principle of propogation in straight lines and the principle that the intensity of light diminishes inversely as the square of the distance.”

— Gerald James Whitrow

p, 125
The Structure of the Universe: An Introduction to Cosmology (1949)

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Gerald James Whitrow 39

British mathematician 1912–2000

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