ScottH

The theories of relativity are facinating and complex theories, composed of general realtity, special relativy, and many theortical pheonomena derived from them.//Einstein// Prior work on relativity had been done by the Italian scientist Galileo, however his works were incomplete, and as such incorrect. Until, in 1905, a young German-Jewish immigrant named Albert Einstein working at a patent office came up with the "Special theory of relativity". Later, in 1915, Einstein produced the "General theory of relativity"by relating Newton's laws of gravity to his Theory of Special Relativity. //Special relativity// In 1905, Einstein published "The Special Theory of Relativity", which disproved the theories preposed by the Maxwell-Morley experiment ((which postulated that light must move through ether, while the foundation for their conclusions upon the speed of light,which stated all light moved relative to ether so therefor Galilian transformation equations could be used to find the speed of light, there was little or no actual scientific basis for the concept of ether)). The "Special Theory of Relativity" which had two main points, (1) There is no ether, and the speed of light is the same for all observers, whatever their relative motion. (2) The laws of nature are the same in all inertial frames, where the laws are understood to include those described by Maxwell.
 * //The Theories of relativity//**

//General relativity// Einstein's general theory of relativity was developed to fit together his theory of "special relativity" with Issac Newton's theory of gravity. The problem was that in Newton's work the tranfer of forces was instantaneous, meaning planets could transmit force at a distance, however, that conflicts in several ways with Einstein's theory of special relativity. He fixed this by using the principle of Equivalence, which states that gravitational mass=intertial mass. He explained it by this thought experiment, "First, consider an elevator that is falling freely toward Earth's surface. Suppose a person in the elevator drops a rock. The rock will fall with the person, and so it will merely hover in the air beside the person. Now, imagine that the elevator is in outer space -- so far from any planet or star that almost no gravitational force is present. The person drops the rock and, again, the rock hovers beside the person. Einstein said that the "thought experiment" reveals a general truth: A person in free fall cannot determine by observation within his or her reference frame that gravitation is present. Thus, gravitation must be a characteristic of the space-time in which the observer is falling." //Phenomina// Based upon the postulation that gravity is a charatistic of spacetime, mathematically mass and energy can effect spacetime, therefor "mass curves space". Einstein suggested many methods of testing his theory, the most dramatic of which, watching a ray of light be bent by the Sun's gravitation during an eclipse, was observed in 1919 by Arthor S. Eddingtin, a british astronomer, which made Einstein world famous. It has also been postulated that since time is a charartaristic of a frame of reference, for someone traveling near the speed of light, time would actually be slower, than for someone not traveling at the speed of light. //the future?// The Theories of Relativity are an important discovery, so brilliant, in fact, that Einstein's name has become synominous with genious. Although even renowned physisists do not truly understand everything about relativity, as technology advances we learn more and more. Perhaps someday we'll be able to travel at light speeds, and then we shall know.

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