Whats so special about the theory of relativity?

Answer 1

Something to do with space and time. Well not sure but it says that space and time are constant. So telling that you are one hour late or 60 miles late are one and the same

Answer 2

Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity and General Relativity stunned the world when they were published. Overnight, the Newtonian paradigm of absolute space and time and the clockwork universe was overthrown, and replaced with a new worldview that is quite counterintuitive and sometimes simply bizarre.

Special Relativity is called Special because it was developed for understanding the physics of reference frames traveling at constant velocities (this type of motion is considered special because most motion are not constant), whereas General Relativity was developed for reference frames traveling at constant acceleration. (Please note that some of the previous answers are incorrect regarding these two points.)

So what is so special about these two theories? Well, when Einstein published Special Relativity in 1905, he was only 26 years old and working as a clerk in the patent office. He was not some hotshot physics professor working at some reputable university. No no. People were stunned not only by the contents of his theories, but also by the fact that he was so young, and a complete unknown with no formal training and no history of work in theoritical physics. And the most amazing part is that he did all this work completely by himself without talking or collaborating with anyone else, and his work is so thoroughly complete that there hasn't been any revision nor addition to his work.

(The caveat I would add here is that Einstein did work all the way until his death on a Grand Unified Field Theory, which would encompass his theories of relativity but be able to describe the physics of everything. But he was not successful, and not until recently did we come up with such a theory that matched Einstein's vision. This theory of everything is Superstring Theory.)

Answer 3

We have two theories of relativity. One is special and the other is general.
In 1905 Einstein published his work on relativity, which became known as Special Theory of Relativity (STR). Ironically this paper was called “The Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies. “
In 1916 he published another paper where he expended his earlier ideas to include effect of gravitation on the shape of space and the flow of time. The later work is referred to as General Theory of Relativity (GTR).
The STR hinges on two postulates:
1. The speed of light is the same for all observers regardless of their position or motion.
2. The observer moving with a constant speed would observe same physical laws.
By employing Lorenz transformations Einstein used these postulates to show relative change in length, mass and even time. That led him to bring to the table of discussion now very famous equation:
E=mc^2
Or simply stated any mass moving with a speed of light becomes, relatively speaking, pure energy.
By introducing these concepts Einstein closed the Newtonian era and opened a new era in physics where quantities such as length, mass and time were no longer taken for granted. This is what makes STR so special.

Answer 4

What amazes me about it is that Einstein just thought it up! One hundred years ago...

This theory was way ahead of its time, so to speak. Comparable theories didn't emerge until 40 or 50 years later!

The special theory of relativity was proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in his article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies." Some three centuries earlier, Galileo's principle of relativity had stated that all uniform motion was relative, and that there was no absolute and well-defined state of rest; a person on the deck of a ship may be at rest in his opinion, but someone observing from the shore would say that he was moving. Einstein's theory combines Galilean relativity with the postulate that all observers will always measure the speed of light to be the same no matter what their state of uniform linear motion is.

This theory has a variety of surprising consequences that seem to violate common sense, but which have been verified experimentally. Special relativity overthrows Newtonian notions of absolute space and time by stating that distance and time depend on the observer, and that time and space are perceived differently, depending on the observer. It yields the equivalence of matter and energy, as expressed in the famous equation E=mc2, where c is the speed of light. Special relativity agrees with Newtonian mechanics in their common realm of applicability, in experiments in which all velocities are small compared to the speed of light.

The theory was called "special" because it applies the principle of relativity only to inertial frames. Einstein developed general relativity to apply the principle generally, that is, to any frame, and that theory includes the effects of gravity. Special relativity doesn't account for gravity, but it can deal with accelerations.

Although special relativity makes relative some quantities, such as time, that we would have imagined to be absolute based on everyday experience, it also makes absolute some others that we would have thought were relative. In particular, it states that the speed of light is the same for all observers, even if they are in motion relative to one another. Special relativity reveals that c is not just the velocity of a certain phenomenon -- light -- but rather a fundamental feature of the way space and time are tied together. In particular, special relativity states that it is impossible for any material object to travel as fast as light.

Answer 5

theory of relativity is proposed by albert einstein.it is a very very vast concept if u want information refer A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME by STEPHEN HAWKING. U can have clear concept of all about what is theory of relativity,blackholes,chandrasekhar limit,bigbang theory ,what is singularity

Answer 6

That it works and explains a lot of things quite nicely. There are still unexplained phenomenon, and a grand unification theory is still being desired.

Answer 7

It is special because it deals with a special kind of motion, which is motion with no net forces, and a constant speed and direction.

Not because it is a "special child"...

Answer 8

His younger brother, general relativity, feels the same way.

Answer 9

it transformed our thinking of space time continum from two dimensional to three dimensional and in relational terms as well.

Answer 10

it is said that this e=mc*c
that's by this energy have ability to greening the earth if we use properly