Mission Statement

This blog is dedicated to quelling myths and misconceptions about special relativity and the mantra that all of its paradoxes have been resolved. It would be more accurate to say that the paradoxes have been resolved to the satisfaction of the advocates of the solutions. The stickier issues have actually just been relegated to the domain of philosophy, as if that's supposed to accomplish something. We can do better. You be the judge. We're getting down to the brass tacks here.

Here are some other mantras we're going to address:

  • Moving clocks run slower than one another
  • Trains and spaceships shrink as they are getting underway
  • "Now" over there is subjective

Background

    If you need a refresher on the theory of special relativity, you can't go wrong with the Viascience YouTube channel. Brian Green's WSU tour de force is less hands-on, but well worth a look if you have the time: https://youtu.be/XFV2feKDK9E. (There's a handy index in the video description if you want to skip ahead.) Here's another good one from Sabine Hossenfelder: Special Relativity: This Is Why You Misunderstand It.

    If you want to make your own spacetime diagrams in MatLab or Octave, try this:  https://github.com/mraygale/specialrelativitytoolkit

    And for a little more background, here's the world of physics according to Einstein in 1938: The Evolution of Physics

    You can also read my Q&A on Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Mike-Gale-21

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