Special Theory of Relativity

Historical Perspective

The romance of creative achievement lies in reciting the story itself, as how it finally evolved historically. The earliest notions of space were that of Aristotle who visualized the world as an absolute space. You could easily infer whether you are at rest or moving. Contrary to Aristotle, Heractilus held that all things are in motion or in a constant state of flux though sometimes not visibly so. This concept of dynamic equilibrium is surprisingly a modern view. But Aristotle’s views held sway for a number of centuries. Around the time of renaissance, Tycho Braha made accurate measurements of the motion of planets in our solar system. Kepler based his analysis on this data and formulated three laws of planetary motion, ...