The Theory of Relativity 135
meter works in a camera. It was a much more controversial paper than the one on
relativity. It hypothesized what turned out to be one of the founding ideas in quantum
theory. We will discuss it in the next chapter.
The story we have told so far might lead you to believe that it was the null result
of the Michelson Morley experiment that led Einstein to his ideas about relativity. It
turns out that is not the case. His paper on relativity does not reference that experi-
ment. It is not clear that Einstein knew of the experiment at all. If he did, he certainly
did not pay much attention to it. Einstein has, in fact, talked about his thinking that
led him to his ideas. According to him, when he was about 16 years old ...