The principle of relativity states that the laws of physics work the same regardless of an observer’s position or speed. Galileo’s ship experiment illustrated this in the 1600s. Newton applied the principle to planetary bodies and motion, leading to his own theories. Einstein’s application of the principle to light led to his groundbreaking theories of […]
Albert Einstein developed two theories, the special theory of relativity and the general theory of relativity, between 1905 and 1915. These theories challenged classical mechanics and had bizarre consequences, such as time dilation and length contraction. The general theory of relativity explains gravity as curves in spacetime and predicts phenomena such as the bending of […]
General relativity is a theory that describes how matter, energy, time, and space interact. It treats space and time as a single unified four-dimensional “spacetime.” The equivalence principle states that the forces caused by gravity and acceleration are equivalent. Space cannot be Euclidean for all observers, and objects in general relativity don’t always move in […]
Special relativity, published by Einstein in 1905, revolutionized physics by describing how matter moves through space and time. It has been confirmed to an accuracy of over twenty decimal places and is based on two postulates: the laws of physics are the same regardless of speed, and the speed of light is constant. Special relativity […]
Linguistic relativity is the idea that language controls thought processes in powerful ways. There are two schools of thought, one where language dominates perception and another where it has less impact. The concept dates back to the 19th century and is often referred to as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Linguistic scientists study the specific ways language […]
