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E=mc2, Special Relativity Theory & Book
When discussing Albert Einstein and his ideas, most
people
make the mistake of assuming that the theory that gave the
world E=mc2
comprises the full extent of the great scientist's ideas.
Of course
nothing could be further from the truth since Einstein
expanded on his
theory of Special Relativity (1905) through his General
Relativity
(1915). But in the minds of the general population E=mc2,
the theory of
Special Relativity which gave it life and the other
mysterious
predicted effects is the sine qua non of Albert Einstein.
Without
Special Relativity the foundation of much of modern
physics would be
radically altered from the divergent course it has taken
for the last
century. Reviewing the basic tenets of this revolutionary
treatise is
at first glance a daunting task that would give pause to
most readers.
However, in an easy to read book by Michael Strauss that
can be
purchased on this site, this theory will be put to the
test and it will
not pass muster. Casual readers should not be put off by
this subject
matter since the author has made every effort to minimize
the
complexity of the math present therein.
$19.99 - USA or Call 1-800-499-1800
More about the Book
Relativity | Early Contributors | Einstein
It should be noted that there were many other scientists
who
offered major mathematical insights well before Einsteins
contributions
came to public light. In fact, it is debated in some
circles whether or
not he was the first to transform a series of mathematical
assertions
into the notorious E=mc2. More and more evidence is
coming to
light that E=mc2 and
of course the early equations of Special Relativity
descended from such
luminaries as Fitzgerald, Lorentz, Poincare and others. In
particular,
Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Nobel Prize winner who along
with Irish
physicist George Fitzgerald predicted a length contraction
effect from
the results of an unexpected result of the Michelson
Morley experiment
(this experiment is further described in our blog
section). Fitzgerald
was the first to suggest this effect in a paper entitled
"The Ether and
the Earth's Atmosphere" (1889) attempting to explain the
results of
Michelson Morley. Lorentz similarly showed how this effect
would
interact with electromagnetic theory.
Lorentz | Length Contraction | Time Dilation
All of these men and possibly others fell into the trap
known
as the Fitzgerald-Lorentz contraction hypothesis. This
concept required
a decrease in the observed length of a moving object. In
other words,
observers at rest in one perspective determine a reduction
in the size
of the moving object in the direction of the moving
object. So that if
one is watching a vehicle heading East for example, then
the equations
predict a smaller observed size for the vehicle from the
perspective of
an observer outside of the vehicle and at rest from the
vehicular
motion start. In addition to the aforementioned physical
dimension
effect, Lorentz would publish a innovative challenge to
the
conventional ideas of time creating the phenomenon of
'local time.'
These ideas percolating in the mind of the great Dutch
physicist
produced the second of modern physics most awesome ideas.
In this fashion, time dilation was born from the deep
recesses
of Mr. Lorentz mind in 1904. This effect gave life to a
great amount of
science fiction stories whereby the possibility of time
warps and time
travel became 'suddenly' possible. Lorentz had predicted
that time
slows down in a moving object yet stays the same on an
observer who was
at rest before the object moved away. He did this using
equations
different from the ones used later by Einstein and
Poincare in 1905. To
add even more confusion to the pedigree of the equations
of special
relativity, another scientist named Larmor had used a
similar set of
equations much earlier than Lorentz. But in any case, the
theory became
a hodge podge of equations attempting to mathematically
describe the
experimental results whilst in Michael Strauss' view they
simply added
mathematical errors into the matrix. The distillation of
all of these
ideas into a coherent yet erroneous whole fell to Einstein
who
published On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies ("Zur
Elektrodynamik
bewegter Korper," in Annalen der Physik. 17:891, 1905).
Einstein's landmark work built mightily upon the work of
Lorentz, Poincare, Fitzgerald, Larmor and others to bring
the ideas of
Time Dilation, Length Contraction and many others to an
unsuspecting
world. In doing so, he even predicted an increase in mass
for moving
bodies. It should be noted that Lorentz had also included
an increase
in the mass of a moving object as one of the predicted
effects of his
mathematical works. Whilst the appropriate crediting of
accomplishments
is a worthy goal, Michael Strauss' book is NOT about who
did what
first. In fact, he does not discuss the descent of ideas
from this
person or that one inside its pages. Much more importantly
he simply
shows the novice reader how incorrect this entire edifice
of modern
thought has become in a simple and easy to read manner.
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Special Relativity
The socio-economic, political, spiritual and scientific
thought of the last century was shaped by the modern
Theory of
Relativity. Many phrases such as "relatively speaking" are
well known
and generally indicate that all things are equally right;
of course
this terminology also may indicate the opposite, namely,
that all
things are equally wrong. The theory of Relativity in its
two variants
General Relativity and Special Relativity has led to an
increase in the
belief that the universe is a confused and disordered
construct with no
absolute principle, except for the constancy of the
velocity of light
in a vacuum, labeled 'c' in the scientific lexicon. Thus,
chaos reigns
with the sole exception of the speed of light 'c' even
within the
scientific structure itself.
The socio-economic, spiritual and political consequences
of
these ideas is NOT, repeat NOT the subject matter of
Requiem for
Relativity The Collapse of Special Relativity. On the
contrary, the
book is about the science of relativism in its most famous
theory.
Ranging from the ancient Ptolemaic and Aristotelian models
of the
Greeks, the book rapidly guides the reader to the ideas of
Copernicus
and Kepler (elliptical planetary orbits) up to the
classical ideas of
Galileo
Galilei.
Strauss leads the reader in a description of the
classical
notion of Relativity as can be seen in the table of
contents under
Classical Relativity. A simple example of Classical
Relativity is
as follows. Imagine that you were in a boat traveling at
15 knots
behind another boat traveling at 20 knots. Then what is
the other
boat's speed relative to yours? Clearly relative to your
boat the other
is going 5 knots. However, relative to a person stationary
on the earth
your boat is traveling at 15 knots and the other boat is
traveling at
20 knots. Thus, Classical Relativity allows for the
discernment of
different velocities based upon the perspective of an
observer.
The modern notions of the universal scientific laws
derived
from these perspective based ideas are then introduced in
chapter 3.
Albert Einstein and his Special Relativity will attempt to
provide a
similar perspective based physics. In Einsteins Special
Relativity
several other physical measurements including space, time,
mass and
energy become dependent on perspective and in particular
the perceived
velocity from the different observers. In doing so,
Einstein overturned
the classical order and the ideas of Galileo and Newton as
well as many
others. The book shows the errors in this thinking using
the equations
of Albert Einstein (equations taken from the work of H.A.
Lorentz and
Voigt 1877) as well as the original documents, experiments
and ideas of
Special Relativity.
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Notice: All rights reserved. No
part of
the book may be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic,
mechanical or optical, including photocopying or
recording, or by any
information storage retrieval system without permission
in writing from
the publisher. Purchasing the book signifies acceptance
of these terms
by the buyer.
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