Week 8 introduction

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Understanding Einstein: The Special Theory of Relativity

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Stanford University

Understanding Einstein: The Special Theory of Relativity

1226 notes

In this course we will seek to “understand Einstein,” especially focusing on the special theory of relativity that Albert Einstein, as a twenty-six year old patent clerk, introduced in his “miracle year” of 1905. Our goal will be to go behind the myth-making and beyond the popularized presentations of relativity in order to gain a deeper understanding of both Einstein the person and the concepts, predictions, and strange paradoxes of his theory. Some of the questions we will address include: How did Einstein come up with his ideas? What was the nature of his genius? What is the meaning of relativity? What’s “special” about the special theory of relativity? Why did the theory initially seem to be dead on arrival? What does it mean to say that time is the “fourth dimension”? Can time actually run more slowly for one person than another, and the size of things change depending on their velocity? Is time travel possible, and if so, how? Why can’t things travel faster than the speed of light? Is it possible to travel to the center of the galaxy and return in one lifetime? Is there any evidence that definitively confirms the theory, or is it mainly speculation? Why didn’t Einstein win the Nobel Prize for the theory of relativity? About the instructor: Dr. Larry Lagerstrom is the Director of Academic Programs at Stanford University’s Center for Professional Development, which offers graduate certificates in subjects such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, data mining, nanotechnology, innovation, and management science. He holds degrees in physics, mathematics, and the history of science, has published a book and a TED Ed video on "Young Einstein: From the Doxerl Affair to the Miracle Year," and has had over 30,000 students worldwide enroll in his online course on the special theory of relativity (this course!).

À partir de la leçon

To the Center of the Galaxy and Back

Week 8: To the Center of the Galaxy and Back

Week 8 introduction4:35

Rencontrer les enseignants

Larry Randles Lagerstrom
Academic Director

So now we come to Week 8, the final week in our course.

We'll start out as usual, with a quote of the week.

And major topics this week, we'll build on some of the things we've been doing.

First of all, traveling the galaxy, so

this will come out of our analysis of the twin paradox last week.

So we'll think a little bit more about that.

Then talking about the famous equation,

which of course is E=mc squared and how that fits in to things here a little bit.

Traveling the galaxy part 2,

once we know a little bit about the famous equation energy, we'll say a few more

words about what we were doing here in terms of traveling the galaxy and

how feasible it is, how much fuel we might need to actually get some place.

Then we'll actually just spend a couple video lectures

on the general theory of relativity, just introduce a few of the key concepts here.

We can't go into the details.

This course isn't about that,

plus it requires a lot more math than we want to tackle.

But we'll start with the happiest thought, what Einstein termed

the happiest thought of his life, or the most fortunate thought of his life.

So actually we'll find out what that happens to be.

And then another consequence of this happiest thought actually is

the bending of light and the gravitational field, so we'll look at that.

And then end up with making a few final comments on

some topics we've touched on here and there.

But want to emphasize a few points such as the role of crucial experiments

in science and in physics, such as the 1919

eclipse expedition that we'll talk more about.

So the role of crucial experiments, the nature of genius, a few words on that,

a few thoughts on that.

Question of relativity versus relativism,

what the difference between those is and how they are confused sometimes.

And then end it off with a few comments on Is this all really real?

When we talk about time dilation, length contractions, some of these weird results,

the twin paradox, is it really real?

And so that's where we're going this week.

And we'll also, of course, have a weekly summary at the end and

one final video summarizing some of the key concepts of the whole course.

We won't try to recap everything, but just hit the high points,

so our journey through the course, a road map, as it were.

So the quotes of the week though, for this week, are actually particularly apt,

in terms of some of the things we'll be talking about.

The first one is, if the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.

And this probably wasn't said by Einstein,

but it certainly could have been said by him, as we'll see

in some of our final comments when we talk about these crucial experiments.

Another comment, he says, it strikes me as unfair and

even in bad taste to select a few individuals for boundless admiration,

attributing superhuman powers of mind and character to them.

This has been my fate.

And the contrast between the popular assessment of my powers and

achievements and the reality is simply grotesque.

And so again, that will come into play over,

keep that in mind when we talk about, in your final comments, the nature of genius.

Certainly in some respects, we'd say Einstein

was one of the supreme geniuses of all time in terms of scientific thought.

But he had a somewhat different view of his powers and achievements as it were.

Then two other short ones here.

When he was introduced to an 18-month-old baby,

the baby screamed when introduced to him.

And Einstein's response was,

you're the first person in years who has told me what you really think of me.

Again, when you're lionized like Einstein was,

sometimes it's hard to have people actually say what they think around you.

And then finally good advice for anyone is

try to become not a person of success but try rather to become a person of value.

And with that more solid foundation,

success in various ways will usually occur.

So those are the quotes of the week.

Here's where we're heading.

And so in the next video, we'll talk about traveling the galaxy.

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