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Programming
Microcontrollers
with Python
Experience the Power of
Embedded Python
—
Armstrong Subero
Programming
Microcontrollers with
Python
Experience the Power
of Embedded Python
Armstrong Subero
Programming Microcontrollers with Python: Experience the Power of
Embedded Python
Armstrong Subero
Basse Terre, Moruga, Trinidad and Tobago
v
Table of Contents
vi
Table of Contents
Flip-Flop��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������72
Registers and the Shift Register�������������������������������������������������������������������������73
Multiplexers and Demultiplexers������������������������������������������������������������������������75
Conclusion����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������76
vii
Table of Contents
Medium-Scale Systems��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������97
High-Performance Systems��������������������������������������������������������������������������������98
Distributed Embedded Systems��������������������������������������������������������������������������99
Seven Steps to Developing an Embedded Product�������������������������������������������100
Step 1: Idea Creation�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������100
Step 2: Requirements Specifications�����������������������������������������������������������100
Step 3: Functional Design����������������������������������������������������������������������������101
Step 4: Rapid Prototyping����������������������������������������������������������������������������101
Step 5: Testing���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������102
Step 6: Securing Your System���������������������������������������������������������������������103
Step 7: Bringing to Market���������������������������������������������������������������������������104
Conclusion��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������105
viii
Table of Contents
Functions����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������120
Lambda Functions���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������120
Exception Handling�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������121
Object-Oriented Programming��������������������������������������������������������������������������121
Random and Time���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������123
Python vs. CircuitPython�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������124
How Does My Python Program Run?����������������������������������������������������������������124
Conclusion��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������125
ix
Table of Contents
x
Table of Contents
SPI Communications�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������194
Deeper into SPI�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������196
SPI Circuit Connection���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������197
SPI with CircuitPython Program������������������������������������������������������������������������197
I2C Communications�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������199
Deeper into I2C�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������200
I2C Support in CircuitPython�����������������������������������������������������������������������������201
The MPU6050����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������201
I2C with MCU Schematic�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������202
I2C Circuit Connection Tips�������������������������������������������������������������������������������203
I2C with CircuitPython Program������������������������������������������������������������������������204
Adding Libraries������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������206
MPU6050 with CircuitPython Program��������������������������������������������������������������206
Conclusion��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������208
xi
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xii
Table of Contents
Index�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������285
xiii
About the Author
Armstrong Subero started learning electronics at the age of 8. One of
the happiest memories in his childhood was when he finally figured out
how to make a light bulb. It took off from there as he taught himself more
advanced topics in electronics, before delving into computer architecture,
and eventually discovering the joys of microcontrollers and FPGAs.
He currently works for the Ministry of National Security in his country;
writes software; designs circuits, courses, and robots; writes books; and
blogs about technology on www.trinirobotics.com in his free time.
He is also a contributing author to Free Code Camp and has degrees in
Computer Science and Liberal Arts and Sciences from Thomas Edison
State University. He is the author of Programming PIC Microcontrollers
with XC8 and Codeless Data Structures and Algorithms both published by
Apress Media LLC.
xv
About the Technical Reviewer
Sai Yamanoor is an embedded systems engineer working for an industrial
gases company in Buffalo, NY. His interests, deeply rooted in DIY and
open source hardware, include developing gadgets that aid behavior
modification. He has published two books with his brother, and in his
spare time, he likes to contribute to build things that improve quality of
life. You can find his project portfolio at http://saiyamanoor.com.
xvii
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my family.
I want to thank everyone who ever said anything positive to me or
taught me something. I heard it all, and it meant something.
I want to thank God most of all, because without God I wouldn’t be
able to do any of this.
xix
CHAPTER 1
Getting Ready
You have decided to learn about microcontrollers using Python. While it
would be nice to jump straight into developing cool stuff, there are a few
steps you must take to get ready first. If you have experience with software
development, you may be accustomed to just opening an editor and typing
code right away. However, microcontroller development is a little more
involved than that. After all, you will be writing programs for a separate
computer, so there is a lot more to set up. A microcontroller development
environment consists of not only software but an entire hardware
ecosystem that must be understood to unlock all the magic these devices
have to offer.
In this chapter, we will look at setting up an environment for
development. By the end of the chapter, you will be ready to select a
microcontroller board, and you’ll have the software tools and hardware
devices needed to begin your development with CircuitPython. Let’s get
started!
I ntroduction to Microcontrollers
In our modern world, computers are ubiquitous. They have become
smaller, easier to use, and more integrated into our daily lives. A few years
ago, to connect to the Internet and check your email, you would have
had to sit down at a large desktop device. Today, you can do the same
thing with a computer that fits in the palm of your hand and places all the
information in the world at your fingertips.
© Armstrong Subero 2021 1
A. Subero, Programming Microcontrollers with Python,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-7058-5_1
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
2
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
3
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
4
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
Assembly Language
At one point in time, microcontrollers were programmed exclusively in
assembly language. Today, assembly language is reserved for devices
with limited memory and for situations where the programmer needs to
squeeze every drop of performance out of the microcontroller. Assembly
language is useful in these situations because a lot of assembly instructions
5
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
C
C has long been the language of choice in the embedded world. It was
made to run on memory-constrained devices such as microcontrollers. C
gives us the ability to control the underlying hardware efficiently – one C
instruction translates into several assembly language instructions – and
it can match the speed of assembly language for most applications. Since
C has been used for so long, a lot of the code that is written has been
battle tested and proven to work for the applications they are intended. C
users have access to a large code base with helpful information and code
snippets. However, the language requires a good understanding of the
hardware and is difficult for beginners to break into.
C++
As time progressed and embedded devices became more powerful, some
microcontroller manufacturers and software vendors began adding C++
support to their devices. C++ is slowly gaining traction in the professional
embedded space. In the hobbyist realm, however, C++ finds widespread
use on the Arduino platform. C++ is a large and difficult language to learn,
however. Many of the features that make C++ more effective to use than
C in general-purpose computing applications, sometimes cannot be
6
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
BASIC
In the early 2000s, if a beginner was getting started with microcontrollers
and did not fancy assembly, BASIC was the programming language to use.
BASIC stands for Beginners’ All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code and
is an easy programming language to use. There would usually be a BASIC
interpreter on the microcontroller chip to run the instructions.
BASIC eventually fell in popularity because the boards that ran it
cost a lot of money relative to what they were capable of. Additionally,
running the BASIC interpreter slowed the chips down and took up too
many resources on the already constrained 8-bit devices. Also, the tools
and software for the most popular BASIC devices were all closed source,
so people could not make their own BASIC devices. When open source
alternatives like the Arduino came around, devices like the BASIC Stamp
thus fell out of favor.
Rust
The Rust programming language is new compared to C (which is almost
half a century old) and is designed to upset the C and C++ hold on systems
programming, including embedded programming. As microcontrollers
become more powerful and factors like concurrency (the ability to carry
out multiple processes at once) start to matter, Rust’s advantages over C
begin to show. Rust is better suited to concurrency because it can handle
a data race, which is when two devices try to access the same location in
memory at the same time.
7
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
Python
Python is a relative newcomer to the embedded space, and it could
become a major player in the field. Python is a lot simpler than C to learn
and is one of the most popular programming languages today. While
BASIC was also easier than C for beginners, Python has several advantages
over BASIC that make it better suited for use as an embedded language.
Notably, while the popular BASIC microcontrollers were closed source,
Python is open source, allowing you to run Python on your custom device
if you desire. Python files can also be compiled to make them smaller,
allowing you to create tight, memory-efficient programs.
Many people say that interpreted languages like Python are not
suited to the limitations of microcontrollers. This may have once been
true, but with today’s more powerful devices, it is entirely possible for
microcontrollers to run interpreted languages without hiccups like the
speed limitations experienced by older BASIC devices. For extremely
time-efficient computing, also called real-time computing, interpreted
languages are still not suitable. However, Python should have no problem
meeting the speed requirements of the majority of microcontroller
projects.
8
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
9
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
the board and get it up and running. A development board allows you to
use, program, and prototype with the microcontroller without worrying
about the hardware setup.
At the time of writing, CircuitPython supports over 140 boards, and the
list keeps growing. You can view the list here on the CircuitPython website:
https://circuitpython.org/downloads. Any one of these compatible
boards will work with this book. You can also choose to create your
own custom device that supports CircuitPython, a process I will discuss
at the end of this chapter. For beginners, however, using a premade,
CircuitPython-compatible board will always be a better choice. It will
ensure that the hardware is working and allow you to get started more
quickly with writing software for your device.
In this section, we will look at some preconfigured devices that can run
CircuitPython. Though many companies supply microcontroller boards
that are capable of running CircuitPython, Adafruit devices have the best
support since they originated the language and have an entire ecosystem
built around CircuitPython with their development environment.
We’ll look at some of the boards that they have available, along with
some popular boards from other manufacturers that can be used with
CircuitPython. This list is not exhaustive, but the boards presented here
will be compatible with the examples discussed in this book.
10
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
11
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
12
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
13
Other documents randomly have
different content
now seeking further light on the cause of gravitation; we are
interested in seeing what would really be involved in a complete
explanation of anything physical.
Einstein’s law in its analytical form is a statement that in empty
space certain quantities called potentials obey certain lengthy
differential equations. We make a memorandum of the word
“potential” to remind us that we must later on explain what it
means. We might conceive a world in which the potentials at every
moment and every place had quite arbitrary values. The actual world
is not so unlimited, the potentials being restricted to those values
which conform to Einstein’s equations. The next question is, What
are potentials? They can be defined as quantities derived by quite
simple mathematical calculations from certain fundamental
quantities called intervals. (MEM. Explain “interval”.) If we know the
values of the various intervals throughout the world definite rules
can be given for deriving the values of the potentials. What are
intervals? They are relations between pairs of events which can be
measured with a scale or a clock or with both. (MEM. Explain “scale”
and “clock”.) Instructions can be given for the correct use of the
scale and clock so that the interval is given by a prescribed
combination of their readings. What are scales and clocks? A scale is
a graduated strip of matter which.... (MEM. Explain “matter”.) On
second thoughts I will leave the rest of the description as “an
exercise to the reader” since it would take rather a long time to
enumerate all the properties and niceties of behaviour of the
material standard which a physicist would accept as a perfect scale
or a perfect clock. We pass on to the next question, What is matter?
We have dismissed the metaphysical conception of substance. We
might perhaps here describe the atomic and electrical structure of
matter, but that leads to the microscopic aspects of the world,
whereas we are here taking the macroscopic outlook. Confining
ourselves to mechanics, which is the subject in which the law of
gravitation arises, matter may be defined as the embodiment of
three related physical quantities, mass (or energy), momentum and
stress. What are “mass”, “momentum” and “stress”? It is one of the
most far-reaching achievements of Einstein’s theory that it has given
an exact answer to this question. They are rather formidable looking
expressions containing the potentials and their first and second
derivatives with respect to the co-ordinates. What are the potentials?
Why, that is just what I have been explaining to you!
The definitions of physics proceed according to the method
immortalised in “The House that Jack built”: This is the potential,
that was derived from the interval, that was measured by the scale,
that was made from the matter, that embodied the stress, that....
But instead of finishing with Jack, whom of course every youngster
must know without need for an introduction, we make a circuit back
to the beginning of the rhyme: ... that worried the cat, that killed the
rat, that ate the malt, that lay in the house, that was built by the
priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man.... Now we can go
round and round for ever.
But perhaps you have already cut short my explanation of
gravitation. When we reached matter you had had enough of it.
“Please do not explain any more, I happen to know what matter is.”
Very well; matter is something that Mr. X knows. Let us see how it
goes: This is the potential that was derived from the interval that
was measured by the scale that was made from the matter that Mr.
X knows. Next question, What is Mr. X?
Well, it happens that physics is not at all anxious to pursue the
question, What is Mr. X? It is not disposed to admit that its elaborate
structure of a physical universe is “The House that Mr. X built”.
Fig. 8
It looks upon Mr. X—and more particularly the part of Mr. X that
knows—as a rather troublesome tenant who at a late stage of the
world’s history has come to inhabit a structure which inorganic
Nature has by slow evolutionary progress contrived to build. And so
it turns aside from the avenue leading to Mr. X—and beyond—and
closes up its cycle leaving him out in the cold.
From its own point of view physics is entirely justified. That
matter in some indirect way comes within the purview of Mr. X’s
mind is not a fact of any utility for a theoretical scheme of physics.
We cannot embody it in a differential equation. It is ignored; and the
physical properties of matter and other entities are expressed by
their linkages in the cycle. And you can see how by the ingenious
device of the cycle physics secures for itself a self-contained domain
for study with no loose ends projecting into the unknown. All other
physical definitions have the same kind of interlocking. Electric force
is defined as something which causes motion of an electric charge;
an electric charge is something which exerts electric force. So that
an electric charge is something that exerts something that produces
motion of something that exerts something that produces ... ad
infinitum.
But I am not now writing of pure physics, and from a broader
standpoint I do not see how we can leave out Mr. X. The fact that
matter is “knowable to Mr. X” must be set down as one of the
fundamental attributes of matter. I do not say that it is very
distinctive, since other entities of physics are also knowable to him;
but the potentiality of the whole physical world for awaking
impressions in consciousness is an attribute not to be ignored when
we compare the actual world with worlds which, we fancy, might
have been created. There seems to be a prevalent disposition to
minimise the importance of this. The attitude is that “knowableness
to Mr. X” is a negligible attribute, because Mr. X is so clever that he
could know pretty much anything that there was to know. I have
already urged the contrary view—that there is a definitely selective
action of the mind; and since physics treats of what is knowable to
mind[43] its subject-matter has undergone, and indeed retains
evidences of, this process of selection.
“What is Mr. X?” In the light of these considerations let us now see
what we can make of the question, What is Mr. X? I must undertake
the inquiry single-handed; I cannot avail myself of your collaboration
without first answering or assuming an answer to the equally
difficult question, What are you? Accordingly the whole inquiry must
take place in the domain of my own consciousness. I find there
certain data purporting to relate to this unknown X; and I can (by
using powers which respond to my volition) extend the data, i.e. I
can perform experiments on X. For example I can make a chemical
analysis. The immediate result of these experiments is the
occurrence of certain visual or olfactory sensations in my
consciousness. Clearly it is a long stride from these sensations to any
rational inference about Mr. X. For example, I learn that Mr. X has
carbon in his brain, but the immediate knowledge was of something
(not carbon) in my own mind. The reason why I, on becoming aware
of something in my mind, can proceed to assert knowledge of
something elsewhere, is because there is a systematic scheme of
inference which can be traced from the one item of knowledge to
the other. Leaving aside instinctive or commonsense inference—the
crude precursor of scientific inference—the inference follows a
linkage, which can only be described symbolically, extending from
the point in the symbolic world where I locate myself to the point
where I locate Mr. X.
One feature of this inference is that I never discover what carbon
really is. It remains a symbol. There is carbon in my own brain-mind;
but the self-knowledge of my mind does not reveal this to me. I can
only know that the symbol for carbon must be placed there by
following a route of inference through the external world similar to
that used in discovering it in Mr. X; and however closely associated
this carbon may be with my thinking powers, it is as a symbol
divorced from any thinking capacity that I learn of its existence.
Carbon is a symbol definable only in terms of the other symbols
belonging to the cyclic scheme of physics. What I have discovered is
that, in order that the symbols describing the physical world may
conform to the mathematical formulae which they are designed to
obey, it is necessary to place the symbol for carbon (amongst
others) in the locality of Mr. X. By similar means I can make an
exhaustive physical examination of Mr. X and discover the whole
array of symbols to be assigned to his locality.
Will this array of symbols give me the whole of Mr. X? There is
not the least reason to think so. The voice that comes to us over the
telephone wire is not the whole of what is at the end of the wire.
The scientific linkage is like the telephone wire; it can transmit just
what it is constructed to transmit and no more.
It will be seen that the line of communication has two aspects. It
is a chain of inference stretching from the symbols immediately
associated with the sensations in my mind to the symbols descriptive
of Mr. X; and it is a chain of stimuli in the external world starting
from Mr. X and reaching my brain. Ideally the steps of the inference
exactly reverse the steps of the physical transmission which brought
the information. (Naturally we make many short cuts in inference by
applying accumulated experience and knowledge.) Commonly we
think of it only in its second aspect as a physical transmission; but
because it is also a line of inference it is subject to limitations which
we should not necessarily expect a physical transmission to conform
to.
The system of inference employed in physical investigation
reduces to mathematical equations governing the symbols, and so
long as we adhere to this procedure we are limited to symbols of
arithmetical character appropriate to such mathematical equations.
[44] Thus there is no opportunity for acquiring by any physical
investigation a knowledge of Mr. X other than that which can be
expressed in numerical form so as to be passed through a
succession of mathematical equations.
Mathematics is the model of exact inference; and in physics we
have endeavoured to replace all cruder inference by this rigorous
type. Where we cannot complete the mathematical chain we confess
that we are wandering in the dark and are unable to assert real
knowledge. Small wonder then that physical science should have
evolved a conception of the world consisting of entities rigorously
bound to one another by mathematical equations forming a
deterministic scheme. This knowledge has all been inferred and it
was bound therefore to conform to the system of inference that was
used. The determinism of the physical laws simply reflects the
determinism of the method of inference. This soulless nature of the
scientific world need not worry those who are persuaded that the
main significances of our environment are of a more spiritual
character. Anyone who studied the method of inference employed by
the physicist could predict the general characteristics of the world
that he must necessarily find. What he could not have predicted is
the great success of the method—the submission of so large a
proportion of natural phenomena to be brought into the prejudged
scheme. But making all allowance for future progress in developing
the scheme, it seems to be flying in the face of obvious facts to
pretend that it is all comprehensive. Mr. X is one of the recalcitrants.
When sound-waves impinge on his ear he moves, not in accordance
with a mathematical equation involving the physical measure
numbers of the waves, but in accordance with the meaning that
those sound-waves are used to convey. To know what there is about
Mr. X which makes him behave in this strange way, we must look not
to a physical system of inference, but to that insight beneath the
symbols which in our own minds we possess. It is by this insight that
we can finally reach an answer to our question, What is Mr. X?
[41] A good illustration of such substitution is afforded by
astronomical observations of a certain double star with two
components of equal brightness. After an intermission of
observation the two components were inadvertently interchanged,
and the substitution was not detected until the increasing
discrepancy between the actual and predicted orbits was inquired
into.
[42] For example, we should most of us assume (hypothetically)
that the dynamical quality of the world referred to in chapter V is
characteristic of the whole background. Apparently it is not to be
found in the pointer readings, and our only insight into it is in the
feeling of “becoming” in our consciousness. “Becoming” like
“reasoning” is known to us only through its occurrence in our own
minds; but whereas it would be absurd to suppose that the latter
extends to inorganic aggregations of atoms, the former may be
(and commonly is) extended to the inorganic world, so that it is
not a matter of indifference whether the progress of the inorganic
world is viewed from past to future or from future to past.
[43] This is obviously true of all experimental physics, and must
be true of theoretical physics if it is (as it professes to be) based
on experiment.
[44] The solitary exception is, I believe, Dirac’s generalisation
which introduces -numbers (p. 210). There is as yet no approach
to a general system of inference on a non-numerical basis.
Chapter XIII
REALITY
The Real and the Concrete. One of our ancestors, taking arboreal
exercise in the forest, failed to reach the bough intended and his
hand closed on nothingness. The accident might well occasion
philosophical reflections on the distinctions of substance and void—
to say nothing of the phenomenon of gravity. However that may be,
his descendants down to this day have come to be endowed with an
immense respect for substance arising we know not how or why. So
far as familiar experience is concerned, substance occupies the
centre of the stage, rigged out with the attributes of form, colour,
hardness, etc., which appeal to our several senses. Behind it is a
subordinate background of space and time permeated by forces and
unconcrete agencies to minister to the star performer.
Our conception of substance is only vivid so long as we do not
face it. It begins to fade when we analyse it. We may dismiss many
of its supposed attributes which are evidently projections of our
sense-impressions outwards into the external world. Thus the colour
which is so vivid to us is in our minds and cannot be embodied in a
legitimate conception of the substantial object itself. But in any case
colour is no part of the essential nature of substance. Its supposed
nature is that which we try to call to mind by the word “concrete”,
which is perhaps an outward projection of our sense of touch. When
I try to abstract from the bough everything but its substance or
concreteness and concentrate on an effort to apprehend this, all
ideas elude me; but the effort brings with it an instinctive tightening
of the fingers—from which perhaps I might infer that my conception
of substance is not very different from my arboreal ancestor’s.
So strongly has substance held the place of leading actor on the
stage of experience that in common usage concrete and real are
almost synonymous. Ask any man who is not a philosopher or a
mystic to name something typically real; he is almost sure to choose
a concrete thing. Put the question to him whether Time is real; he
will probably decide with some hesitation that it must be classed as
real, but he has an inner feeling that the question is in some way
inappropriate and that he is being cross-examined unfairly.
In the scientific world the conception of substance is wholly
lacking, and that which most nearly replaces it, viz. electric charge,
is not exalted as star-performer above the other entities of physics.
For this reason the scientific world often shocks us by its appearance
of unreality. It offers nothing to satisfy our demand for the concrete.
How should it, when we cannot formulate that demand? I tried to
formulate it; but nothing resulted save a tightening of the fingers.
Science does not overlook the provision for tactual and muscular
sensation. In leading us away from the concrete, science is
reminding us that our contact with the real is more varied than was
apparent to the ape-mind, to whom the bough which supported him
typified the beginning and end of reality.
It is not solely the scientific world that will now occupy our
attention. In accordance with the last chapter we are taking a larger
view in which the cyclical schemes of physics are embraced with
much besides. But before venturing on this more risky ground I have
to emphasise one conclusion which is definitely scientific. The
modern scientific theories have broken away from the common
standpoint which identifies the real with the concrete. I think we
might go so far as to say that time is more typical of physical reality
than matter, because it is freer from those metaphysical associations
which physics disallows. It would not be fair, being given an inch, to
take an ell, and say that having gone so far physics may as well
admit at once that reality is spiritual. We must go more warily. But in
approaching such questions we are no longer tempted to take up
the attitude that everything which lacks concreteness is thereby self-
condemned.
The cleavage between the scientific and the extra-scientific
domain of experience is, I believe, not a cleavage between the
concrete and the transcendental but between the metrical and the
non-metrical. I am at one with the materialist in feeling a
repugnance towards any kind of pseudo-science of the extra-
scientific territory. Science is not to be condemned as narrow
because it refuses to deal with elements of experience which are
unadapted to its own highly organised method; nor can it be blamed
for looking superciliously on the comparative disorganisation of our
knowledge and methods of reasoning about the non-metrical part of
experience. But I think we have not been guilty of pseudo-science in
our attempt to show in the last two chapters how it comes about
that within the whole domain of experience a selected portion is
capable of that exact metrical representation which is requisite for
development by the scientific method.
Causation and Time’s Arrow. Cause and effect are closely bound up
with time’s arrow; the cause must precede the effect. The relativity
of time has not obliterated this order. An event Here-Now can only
cause events in the cone of absolute future; it can be caused by
events in the cone of absolute past; it can neither cause nor be
caused by events in the neutral wedge, since the necessary
influence would in that case have to be transmitted with a speed
faster than light. But curiously enough this elementary notion of
cause and effect is quite inconsistent with a strictly causal scheme.
How can I cause an event in the absolute future, if the future was
predetermined before I was born? The notion evidently implies that
something may be born into the world at the instant Here-Now,
which has an influence extending throughout the future cone but no
corresponding linkage to the cone of absolute past. The primary
laws of physics do not provide for any such one-way linkage; any
alteration in a prescribed state of the world implies alterations in its
past state symmetrical with the alterations in its future state. Thus in
primary physics, which knows nothing of time’s arrow, there is no
discrimination of cause and effect; but events are connected by a
symmetrical causal relation which is the same viewed from either
end.
Primary physics postulates a strictly causal scheme, but the
causality is a symmetrical relation and not the one-way relation of
cause and effect. Secondary physics can distinguish cause and effect
but its foundation does not rest on a causal scheme and it is
indifferent as to whether or not strict causality prevails.
The lever in a signal box is moved and the signal drops. We can
point out the relation of constraint which associates the positions of
lever and signal; we can also find that the movements are not
synchronous, and calculate the time-difference. But the laws of
mechanics do not ascribe an absolute sign to this time-difference; so
far as they are concerned we may quite well suppose that the drop
of the signal causes the motion of the lever. To settle which is the
cause, we have two options. We can appeal to the signalman who is
confident that he made the mental decision to pull the lever; but this
criterion will only be valid if we agree that there was a genuine
decision between two possible courses and not a mere mental
registration of what was already predetermined. Or we can appeal to
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