werner@aecom.UUCP (12/15/84)
There is a very good article about Einstein and Relativity and about his respect for Maxwell's Equations in the Anniversary issue of Science '84. It is very good because it looks into Einstein's thinking, which is good because EINSTEIN, UNLIKE MOST PEOPLE IN THIS GROUP DISCUSSING FTL, KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT. The gist is as follows. By Maxwell's Equations, one can only have a self-perpetuating electromagnetic field if the field is moving forward (I use forward usely, propogating is a better term) exactly at c. It is a numerical answer and wasn't verified until Hertz invented Radio. What Einstein realized is that if you approached a light beam from behind moving at c, you would see a stationary electric/magnetic field, which by Maxwell is impossible. So either Maxwell was wrong, or C had to be a constant. Once you decide that Maxwell has to be right, the rest follows. Also Read: "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", 1905 by A. Einstein in Einstein, Lorentz, Minkowski (ed. A. Sommerfield) _The_Principle_of_Relativity_ a Dover Paperback (60081-5) $3.00 [ISBN 0-486-60081-5] Original papers, but Einstein wrote quite understandably, he knew what he was talking about. -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner What do you expect? Watermelons are out of season!