Space and Time in Contemporary Physics, an Introduction to the Theory the Theory of Relativity and Gravitation (Classic Reprint)

ZlWE f4 7- 7- ffij. INTRODUCTION Fbobablt no physical theory in recent times has given rise to more discussion amongst philosophers than the principle of relativity. One school of thought agrees that physicists may well be led to recast their notions of space and time in the light of experimental results. A nother school however, is of opinion that these questions are no concern i of the physicists, who should make their theories fit the philosophers conceptions of these fundamental units. The theory of ilativity coneU to of two parte, the old I special theory, and the more recent general theory. The main phU osophic achievement of the jpe Wtheory frelativity is probably the recognition that the description Qof an event, which is admittedly only perfect if both the epace and thoe co-ordinatee are ,4 Ll v, a rdi.g to the relative motion of the observer; that it is impossible to say, for instance, whether the interval separating two events is so many centimetres and so many seconds, but that this interval may be spH tup into length and time in different ways, which dend upon the observer who is describing it. The reasons which force this conclusion upon the physidst may he made dear by considering what .Z 4L io of two observers passing one another who send out a flash of light at the moment at which they are close together. The light spreads out in a spherical shell, and it might seem obvious, since the observers are moving relatively to one another, that they cannot both remain at the centre of this shell.
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