| | # ''The [[speed of light]] is constant for all (inertial) observers, regardless of their velocities relative to each other.'' | | # ''The [[speed of light]] is constant for all (inertial) observers, regardless of their velocities relative to each other.'' |
| − | In laymen's terms, these postulates are equivalent to the following: | + | In laymen's terms, these assumptions are equivalent to the following: |
| − | # ''There is nothing special about [[earth]] or its [[solar system]] with respect to the laws of physics, which must be identical in every location in the universe. | + | # ''There is nothing special about [[earth]] or its [[solar system]] with respect to the laws of physics, which must be absolutely identical in every location in the universe. |
| | Special Relativity (SR) was initially developed by [[Henri Poincaré]] and [[Hendrik Lorentz]], working on problems in electrodynamics and the [[Michelson-Morley experiment]], which had not found any sign of [[luminoferous ether]], which was believed to be the substance which carried electromagnetic waves. Special relativity alters [[Isaac Newton]]'s laws of motion by assuming that the speed of light will be the same for all observers, despite their relative velocities and the source of the light. (Therefore, if A sends a beam of light to B, and both measure the speed, it will be the same for both, no matter what the relative velocity of A and B. In Newtonian/Galiliean mechanics, If A sends a physical object at a particular velocity towards B, and nothing slows it, the velocity of the object relative to B depends on the velocities of the object and of B relative to A.) | | Special Relativity (SR) was initially developed by [[Henri Poincaré]] and [[Hendrik Lorentz]], working on problems in electrodynamics and the [[Michelson-Morley experiment]], which had not found any sign of [[luminoferous ether]], which was believed to be the substance which carried electromagnetic waves. Special relativity alters [[Isaac Newton]]'s laws of motion by assuming that the speed of light will be the same for all observers, despite their relative velocities and the source of the light. (Therefore, if A sends a beam of light to B, and both measure the speed, it will be the same for both, no matter what the relative velocity of A and B. In Newtonian/Galiliean mechanics, If A sends a physical object at a particular velocity towards B, and nothing slows it, the velocity of the object relative to B depends on the velocities of the object and of B relative to A.) |