Comments about "Annus_Mirabilis_papers" in Wikipedia

This document contains comments about the article Annus_Mirabilis_papers in Wikipedia
In the last paragraph I explain my own opinion.

Contents

Reflection

Introduction

The article starts with the following sentence.

1. Background

The Nobel committee had waited patiently for experimental confirmation of special relativity; however, none was forthcoming until the time dilation experiments of Ives and Stilwell (1938), (1941) and Rossi and Hall (1941).
It is in the details of these experiments that should be studyied. That is the point where science start.
Most time dilation experiments say something about the behaviour of clocks and not about time.

2 Papers

2.1 Photoelectric effect

2.2 Brownian motion

2.3 Special relativity

However, Einstein's paper introduces a theory of time, distance, mass, and energy that was consistent with electromagnetism, but omitted the force of gravity.
The main problem is that electromagnetism and gravity have physical nothing in common. That does not mean that both fields do not touch each other. This is specific the case when the free moving objects also have an electric or magnetic charge.
At the time, it was known that Maxwell's equations, when applied to moving bodies, led to asymmetries (moving magnet and conductor problem), and that it had not been possible to discover any motion of the Earth relative to the 'light medium' (i.e. aether).
The second part says only about the movement of the earth, but not about the mass of the earth, which subject belongs to gravity.
The second part raises a phylosophical issue: How can you explain (describe) something when it does not exist.

The problem is that our earth in engulfed in dust particles and photons, which means that the atmosphere is not empty. All this non-emptyness can influence the behaviour of lightrays passing around the earth. Which it does?

Einstein puts forward two postulates to explain these observations.
The question is to what extend you can use postulates to explain something
First, he applies the principle of relativity, which states that the laws of physics remain the same for any non-accelerating frame of reference (called an inertial reference frame), to the laws of electrodynamics and optics as well as mechanics.
IMO this sentence is wrong. The first postulate states that the laws of physics remain the same etc.
The first question to answer is what are the laws of physics. ?
The laws of physics IMO are descriptions of the behaviour of physical processes. In this specific case the laws of mechanics.
The most important question to answer is: does this law makes any claim about the behaviour of moving clocks The problem is moving clocks tick slower compared to a clock at rest. In all the experiments to demonstrate this always accelerations are involved
In the second postulate, Einstein proposes that the speed of light has the same value in all frames of reference, independent of the state of motion of the emitting body.
How important is the concept of reference frames, if only one reference frame is involved?
Einstein may not have known about that experiment, but states,:
Examples of this sort, together with the unsuccessful attempts to discover any motion of the earth relatively to the "light medium", suggest that the phenomena of electrodynamics as well as of mechanics possess no properties corresponding to the idea of absolute rest.
What is the definition of rest or absolute rest?
The speed of light is fixed, and thus not relative to the movement of the observer. This was impossible under Newtonian classical mechanics. Einstein argues,
It is interesting to know exactly what Newton said about this subject.
IMO Newton describes all his examples in one reference frame, each involving many objects.
His (Einstein's) explanation arises from two axioms. First, Galileo's idea that the laws of nature should be the same for all observers that move with constant speed relative to each other. Einstein writes,
Now the two postulates are called axioms.
Immediate next:
The laws by which the states of physical systems undergo change are not affected, whether these changes of state be referred to the one or the other of two systems of co-ordinates in uniform translatory motion.
Co-ordinate systems can not move. They are linked to objects which can move.

2.4 Mass–energy equivalence

3 Commemoration

4 References

4.1 Primary sources

4.2 Secondary sources

5. See also

Following is a list with "Comments in Wikipedia" about related subjects

Reflection 1

Reflection 2

Reflection 3

Feedback

If you want to give a comment you can use the following form Comment form
Created: 17 Augustus 2019

Go Back to Wikipedia Comments in Wikipedia documents
Back to my home page Index