Particle-free bodies and point-free spaces

Few notions in mathematics and physics are as fundamental and useful as the notion of a "point". However, in addition to the concept of a "point" being far from apparent, the concept is not suitable for describing several important problems in natural philosophy. A far more tangible and sensible idea that is immediately grasped by our mind is that of a "chunk" (a solid object) which seems ideally suited to describe precisely those problems which the notion of "point" seems to hinder. In this paper, I articulate the need for the use of topologies which are "point free" for the proper resolution of many important problems in natural philosophy. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.