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Michelson-Morley experiment (view source)
Revision as of 17:52, July 26, 2013
, 17:52, July 26, 2013extending the text
Scientists then faced the dilemma. They believed the Earth was moving through space, but the Michelson-Morley experiment and similar experiments indicated that the Earth was somehow stationery relative to the aether at all times.
Scientists then faced the dilemma. They believed the Earth was moving through space, but the Michelson-Morley experiment and similar experiments indicated that the Earth was somehow stationery relative to the aether at all times.
A number of theories were proposed to explain the paradox, including the idea that the aether might in some way be "dragged along" by the Earth. George FitzGerald proposed a length contraction to explain it, as a logical consequence of the speed of light being the same for all observers. Lorentz and Poincare extended this to the theory of special [[relativity]]. That became the accepted explanation, and the aether appeared to be unobservable.
A number of theories were proposed to explain the paradox, including the idea that the aether might in some way be "dragged along" by the Earth. George FitzGerald proposed a length contraction to explain it, as a logical consequence of the speed of light being the same for all observers. Lorentz and Poincare extended this to the theory of special [[relativity]]. That became the accepted explanation, and the aether appeared to be unobservable.
== Link to Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity ==
Some authors state that the celebrated Michelson-Morley experiment was the starting point of the Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity<ref name="Essen">{{cite book |author=L.Essen |title=The Special Theory of Relativity: A Critical Analysis |publisher= Oxford Science Research Papers, Clarendon Press|year=1971 |pages=1-2 |url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=hq3yUZP3K4O6O_3NgMAI&hl=sk&id=LJjvAAAAMAAJ&dq=Essen+The+Special+Theory+of+Relativity+A+Critical+Analysis&q=starting+point#search_anchor |accessdate=July 26, 2103}}</ref> while others are taking effort to deny any link and try to assure that his 1905 paper was not written with the Michelson-Morley experiment in mind but with entirely different motives.<ref>{{cite book |title= Physics Before and After Einstein|author=Klaus Hentschel et al.|Editor= M.Mamone Capria|publisher=IOS Press |year= 2005 |chapter=7: Testing Relativity |pages=164 |isbn= 9781586034627|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=SdLLsj-0rqIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Physics+Before+and+After+Einstein&hl=sk&sa=X&ei=rbPyUf-rO86_PJSWgJAE&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Physics%20Before%20and%20After%20Einstein&f=false}}</ref> Einstein was criticized for the omission of any reference to the work of H.A. [[Lorentz]] and H. [[Poincare]] in his 1905 paper to such degree that Whittaker in his detailed study attributes the presented theory entirely to them.<ref name="Essen"/>
==References==
==References==