ShaneM


 * The Theory of Relativity**

**This theory was created by Ablbert Einstein in 1905.(Jones p.1) He showed that among frames of reference there was no "preferred" frame. The development of general relativity came about, as an attempt to show that this was true among accelerating frames of reference as well. In 1907 he published his first article on gravitational effects on light under special relativity. In the article, Einstein outlined his " principle," which stated that observing an experiment on the Earth (with gravitational acceleration g) would be identical to observing an experiment in a rocket ship that moved at a speed of //g//.(Jones p.1) The second artical came out in 1911 an this article said that he was working to conceive of a general theory of relativity that would explain special relativity, but would also explain gravitation as a geometric phenomenon.(Jones p.1) In 1915 he came out with equations called the Einstein Field Equations. In the simplest possible terms, Einstein found the following relationship between the curvature of space-time and mass-energy density.(Jones p.1)**



**Most people do not know what the Theory of relativity is and the statement Sir Albert Einstein made provides great evidence for this. He said "No matter what physical process was used, absolute motion at a constant velocity was undetectable. No loophole existed, not even through the laws of electricity and magnetism. The trouble was, changing those laws would have upset the electromagnetic theory of light, for which ample evidence existed--e.g. radio waves.(Stern p. 1) Einstein therefore suggested that those laws were correct and instead, Newton's laws were the ones needing to be modified--even though those laws already did hold that absolute motion was undetectable. Furthermore, time intervals measured in different moving frames of reference did not always agree--time became "relative."(Stern p.1)**



“General relativity” is concerned with gravity, one of the fundamental forces in the universe. Gravity defines macroscopic behaviour, and so general relativity describes large-scale physical phenomena such as planetary dynamics, the birth and death of stars, and the evolution of the universe. Special and general relativity have profoundly affected physical science and human existence, most dramatically in applications of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Additionally, relativity and its rethinking of the fundamental categories of space and time have provided a basis for certain philosophical, social, and artistic interpretations that have influenced human culture in different ways.
 * The Theory of Relativity has a major impact in our society. Special relativity” is limited to objects that are moving at constant speed in a straight line, which is called inertial motion. Beginning with the behaviour of light, the theory ofspecial relativity draws conclusions that are contrary to everyday experience but fully confirmed by experiments.Special relativity revealed that the speed of light is a limit that can be approached but not reached by any material object.

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The next major stride occurred in the late 17th century, when the British scientific genius Newton formulated his three famous laws of motion, the first and second of which are of special concern in relativity. Newton’s first law, known as the law of inertia, states thata body that is not acted upon by external forces undergoes no acceleration—either remaining at rest or continuing to move in a straight line at constant speed. Newton’s second law states that a force applied to a body changes its velocity by producing an acceleration that is proportional to the force and inversely proportional to the mass of the body. In constructing his system, Newton also defined space and time, taking both to be absolutes that are unaffected by anything external. Time, he wrote, “flows equably,” while space “remains always similar and immovable.” Newton’s laws proved valid in every application, as in calculating the behaviour of falling bodies, but they also provided the framework for his landmark law of gravity (the term, derived from the Latin //gravis//, or “heavy,” had been in use since at least the 16th century). Beginning with the (perhaps mythical) observation of a falling apple and then considering the Moon as it orbits the Earth, Newton concluded that an invisible force acts between the Sun and its planets. He formulated a comparatively simple mathematical expression for the gravitational force; it states that every object in the universe attracts every other object with a force that operates through empty space and that varies with the masses of the objects and the distance between them. **
 * The Theory of Relativity affects cosmology in more way then what most people think. Relativity changed the scientific conception of the universe, which began in efforts to grasp the dynamic behaviour of matter. In Renaissance times, the great Italian physicist Galileo moved beyond Aristole's philosophy to introduce the modern study of mechanics, which requires quantitative measurements of bodies moving in space and time. His work and that of others led to basic concepts, such as velocity, which is the distance a body covers in a given direction per unit time; acceleration, the rate of change of velocity; mass, the amount of material in a body; and force, a push or pull on a body.

**The Theory of realtivity is not known by many people, and is an important part of our society,and cosmology. Sometimes you just dont see everything tht is happening. Einstein proved many things in his lifetime that other people didnt even think about until he started coming up with logical theories. Just think there might be a theory noone has ever come up with or a concept that noone ever got and you could be the one to come up with that theory or get the concept.**


 * __Annotated Bibliography__**

Jones, Andrew Z. __General Relativity: Einstein: Physics__. New York Times. 21 Jan. 2009 . Stern, David P. __The Theory of Relativity__. 5 Nov. 2008. Science World. 22 Jan. 2009 .

I chose both of these sites because all of the information that was on the sites met all of my thesis parts. All of the information that i used was cited on the bottom of the websites and bothof the authors have over ten years of experiencse on the Theory of Relativity.