Variable speed of light contribute to the above refractive index, Dicke considered a cosmology where "c" decreased in time, providing an alternative explanation to the cosmological redshift (p. 374). Dicke's theory is compatible with the SI definition of c since the time and length units second and meter can vary in concert, keeping the value of c fixed (p. 366). Spatial variation of the speed of light is implicitly present in general relativity, occurring in the coordinate space description.: "note that the photon speed is ... formula_9." (formula_10 denoting the gravitational potential −"GM"/"r") Based on this observation, variable speed of light models, including Dicke's,
Speed of light to propose that light must have a finite speed, and that the speed of light is variable, decreasing in denser bodies. He argued that light is substantial matter, the propagation of which requires time, even if this is hidden from our senses. Also in the 11th century, Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī agreed that light has a finite speed, and observed that the speed of light is much faster than the speed of sound. In the 13th century, Roger Bacon argued that the speed of light in air was not infinite, using philosophical arguments backed by the writing of Alhazen and Aristotle.