Delta
03-14-2003, 01:16 AM
Einstein's Birthday
Today is the birthday of the first person to realize that some things we once considered as absolutes -- including space, time and matter -- aren't the same for everyone. Albert Einstein.
http://www.earthsky.com/2000/Images/0314.gif Tuesday, March 14, 2003
DB: This is Earth and Sky for Tuesday, March 14 -- the anniversary of the birth of Albert Einstein in the year 1879.
JB: Einstein studied mathematics and physics and, in 1902, got a job at the Swiss Patent Office. In 1905, he published a series of papers. One explained what's called the photoelectric effect -- one of the bases for modern-day electronics -- with practical applications including television. This work won for Einstein the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics.
DB: Also in 1905, Einstein published his special theory of relativity. Before it, space, time and mass all seemed to be absolutes -- the same for everyone. Einstein showed that different people perceive mass, space and time differently -- but that these effects don't show up until you start moving nearly at the speed of light. Then you find, for example, that time on a swiftly moving spaceship slows down -- while the mass of the ship increases. According to Einstein, a spaceship traveling at the speed of light would have infinite mass -- and a body of infinite mass also has infinite resistance to motion.
JB: And that's why nothing can travel faster than light. Light is now seen as absolute in a universe of shifting values for space, time and matter. Our thanks to Research Corporation -- since 1912 a foundation for basic scientific research. We're Block and Byrd for Earth and Sky.
Today is the birthday of the first person to realize that some things we once considered as absolutes -- including space, time and matter -- aren't the same for everyone. Albert Einstein.
http://www.earthsky.com/2000/Images/0314.gif Tuesday, March 14, 2003
DB: This is Earth and Sky for Tuesday, March 14 -- the anniversary of the birth of Albert Einstein in the year 1879.
JB: Einstein studied mathematics and physics and, in 1902, got a job at the Swiss Patent Office. In 1905, he published a series of papers. One explained what's called the photoelectric effect -- one of the bases for modern-day electronics -- with practical applications including television. This work won for Einstein the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics.
DB: Also in 1905, Einstein published his special theory of relativity. Before it, space, time and mass all seemed to be absolutes -- the same for everyone. Einstein showed that different people perceive mass, space and time differently -- but that these effects don't show up until you start moving nearly at the speed of light. Then you find, for example, that time on a swiftly moving spaceship slows down -- while the mass of the ship increases. According to Einstein, a spaceship traveling at the speed of light would have infinite mass -- and a body of infinite mass also has infinite resistance to motion.
JB: And that's why nothing can travel faster than light. Light is now seen as absolute in a universe of shifting values for space, time and matter. Our thanks to Research Corporation -- since 1912 a foundation for basic scientific research. We're Block and Byrd for Earth and Sky.