Very true; Einstein's relativity showed the constancy of the
laws of physics - that they work the same for any observer,
regardless of his reference frame. It was thought in the
nineteenth century that a universal reference frame called
the "ether" existed, against which all measurements of motion
could be made. Under this system, time and space were
absolute, and the speed of light would vary, depending on the
motion of the observer's reference frame. A famous
experiment, the Michelson-Morley experiment, was conducted in
the 1880s to prove the existence of the ether, but it failed
to do so. When Einstein published his special relativity
paper in 1905, he showed that it is the speed of light in
vacuum that is constant - all observers measure the same
speed of light, regardless of the motion of their reference
frame. It turned out that time and space are dependent on the
motion of the reference frame, hence "relative." Einstein
decried the misapplication of his theory to realms other than
the laws governing physics.
Back to lurking mode ...
Larry in Mississippi
jacquesdebierue wrote:
>
> <snip>
> On the theory of relativity: it doesn't say that
everything is
> relative... I don't know who invented that silly and
totally false
> dictum. It wasn't Einstein or any of the other
people who developed
> the theory.
> <snip>
>
> Best,
>
> mrt
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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