Post: #1

It is a hundred years since Einstein presented his General Theory of Relativity to the world. And it is 110 years since he announced his Special Theory of Relativity.

Anyway - a new book just came out - and I have it in my hands.

I am just about to start it.



http://www.amazon.com/The-Perfect-Theory...0547554893

The book is a look at what happened after Einstein published his work. Including the decades since his death. You see a lot of the most interesting consequences of Einstein's theory of relativity were discovered after his death. And this book is a biography of the battle that has taken place in physics over the past century as scientists have grappled with the meaning and consequences of Relativity.

Really looking forward to reading this book!

Post: #2

Heh, funny you posted this. I was just looking at this book the other day.

Post: #3

Studying philosophy has made the work of Einstein even more impressive to me.

I'll tell you why.

For 2,500 years - philosophers used to talk about time in the way we talk about God today.

Since then - various people have tried to talk philosophically about the nature of time and all have being defeated. Hell - some have even argued that it doesn't even exist.

To quote St Augustine:

Quote:What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is.

If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know.

And then along comes Einstein - and point out all sorts of interesting shit about time.

Now here is the thing. Until Einstein came along - to your average philosopher - the idea that somebody could get a grasp of time in any small way - would have been as shocking an idea as if somebody could prove or disprove the existence of God.

Of course - time is still a very mysterious thing.

But the way I think of it is like this.

The work of Einstein is the equivalent of somebody being able to prove that God has a mustache. That might sound silly - but just being able to say anything (no matter how small) about such a mysterious subject is an incredible achievement.

It might not be much - but the very idea that somebody could even know that - would still be very impressive.

Of course props has to go those early experimenters who proved that the speed of light was constant - even when the source was moving.

Even being able to measure such a fast speed - in the first place -in the late nineteenth century was an incredible achievement.

And that one key fact - was the key piece of evidence which Einstein could use to unpick the true nature of time.

Props to Einstein! If Einstein were a member on here - he would definitely get a rep point from me.

Post: #4

Two of my favourite aspects of Relativity are discussed here.

For some reason they are often overlooked:

/thread-20880-...#pid374867

/thread-20880-...#pid401244

Post: #5

Both classical and quantum mechanics have more to say about free will than relativity. The time dilation part of relativity does not really impact free will.

Post: #6

Well - the second link above - could have something to say on the Free Will debate.

Post: #7

I checked out that link. That quote is speaking more to relativity independent of whether your perception of the timing of events has any real impact on your free will.

Even within a relativistic universe, it is possible to construct a thought experiment in which an external observer can see everything that is happening "when" it is truly happening. Of course such an observer would have godlike powers.

For those of us in the universe, relativity just tells us that our perception of when things happen depends on our position and velocity over the entire time period from when the event actually happened to when the light from the event reached our eyes (or sensors).

Relativity does not say that our future has already happened. It says that things we will perceive as happening in the future have already happened. The godlike observer I mentioned before would have seen the thing when it actually happened and even we have developed theories that are good enough to correct for the error. So you may see the light from a star tonight, but you can calculate when that light was actually emitted.

Post: #8

Yeah - the whole issue of having a fixed future - and geniuine Free Will is a weird one.

I remember Daniel Dennett (my favourite philosopher) arguing that determinism and Free Will are compatible. And I imagine you can probably make a fixed future fit in there as well. But I am not sure. I find it hard to juggle concepts like Free WIill, determism and having a fixed future.

Post: #9

Is there any truth to the rumours that Einstein was a plagiarist?