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by twtw
3041 days ago
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Something that I find very interesting is that it is probable that some of the patent applications that Einstein evaluated were for methods of synchronizing clocks for railways. This was a pretty big deal at that time, and Einstein was probably in the center of it. His ideas about space and time may not have been so far removed from his occupation as most people assume. Peter Galison has written quite a bit about this. |
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But then I Googled up this short interview with Galison.[1]
Suppose, Einstein reasoned, that you wanted to know what time a train arrived in a train station. Easy enough: you see where the hand of your watch is at the time the engine pulls up alongside you. But what if you wanted to know when a train was pulling into a distant station? How do you know whether an event here is simultaneous with an event there? Einstein insisted that we need a simultaneity - fixing procedure, a definite system of exchanging signals between the stations that would take into account the time it took for the signal to get from one station to another. By pursuing this insight, Einstein discovered that two events that were simultaneous in one frame of reference would not be simultaneous in another. Moreover, since a length measurement involves determining the position of the front and back of an object at the same time, the relativity of simultaneity meant that length was relative as well. By removing the absolutes of space and time, Einstein restructured modern physics.
OP is marginally clever parody but your comment led me to this. So thanks!
[1] https://history.aip.org/exhibits/einstein/essay-einsteins-ti...