Publisher's Synopsis
Albert Einstein is conventionally believed to be the originator of the relativity theory, otherwise known as the Special Theory of Relativity (STR), even though historians of science know he borrowed most of the theory from others. The theory became popular in part because of its paradoxical nature, where time, length and mass varied while light's velocity always remained the same. Before Einstein's relativity theories - time, length and mass were a constant. After Einstein all three became subservient to the velocity of light and from this we suddenly entered a four dimensional universe with black holes, antimatter, the quantum atomic world and other aspects of the new physics and astronomy. Even though Einstein had nothing to do with the atomic bomb (except a letter he wrote to FDR), he is even credited with that. The vast energy of the bomb is believed to be one piece of evidence to support the STR, yet the energy of the bomb is only one-half of one percent of the predicted energy. His relativity theories are based on the supposed uniqueness of light and time. But is light all that unique? Should we neglect logic and the science of commonsense just because of its apparent uniqueness? The author says no and explains how light is not as unique as once thought. Minimal math is used in the text and should be understood by non-mathematicians. This is a new book that started from a scientific paper submitted to the Philosophy of Science in 1971 by the author over his concern about Einstein's special and general theories of relativity. But what is different about this book from other books on the Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity? 1. It breaks down Special Theory of Relativity to basics without heavy use of math. 2. It manifests Special Theory of Relativity's perceptional illusions pertaining to light and time. 3. It shows that black holes, the fourth dimension, relativity of mass/time/length, antimatter and so forth are based solely on the Special Theory of Relativity and its daughter theory, the General Theory of Relativity. If the theories are wrong much of astronomy and the new physics are wrong. 4. It manifests the misuse of mathematics in the new physics. 5. It deals with the negation of "commonsense" in physics. 6. It suggests that light can be and does move faster than the normal velocity and how to detect it. 7. The book shows how science is a guessing game and how it sees reality through its theories- one's vision of reality is based on which theory one uses to perceive it. Einstein and other scientists have admitted this. 8. It urges that physics and astronomy move beyond both theories of relativity and that the science of commonsense be re-established. Remember Ptolemy's geocentric system? It was a mathematical system, not a religious doctrine. It was originally entitled, the "Mathematical Treatise." This disproven system was held to be true and was used for over 1200 years because its mathematics closely predicted future and past positions of the stars and planets. Yet Ptolemy's geocentric theory was almost the exact opposite of reality. Einstein's mathematical system has only been in existence for about 100 years. Replacing Einstein's relativity theory with one that acknowledges light and time's real essence will make science better able to perceive the universe, as the heliocentric system of Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler made science better able to see the solar system.
