1. Einstein and Special Relativity

2. Two Assumptions of Relativity Principle of Relativity: Laws of Physics Do Not Change from One Reference System to Another When They Are in Relative, Uniform Motion to Each Other The Speed of Light Does Not Change from One Such Reference System to Another

3. Simultaneity Became Relative (Illustrations per Banesh Hoffmann, Albert Einstein)

7. Implications Time is relative to observers, even though (actually so that) laws of physics remain the same. Relative in the physical sense, not personal sense Foundation of physics changed Other concepts: space, energy, mass E=mc 2 : 1905—if a body radiates E, mass loss of E/c 2 ; 1907: E=mc 2 Engineering applications: designing accelerators, satellites, GPS

8. Cultural Impact Special relativity (and later general relativity) inspired what some scholars called a “creative misunderstanding” of physical theories by members of the public in the early 20 th century. Relativity was equated with philosophical and moral “relativism”: there are no absolute right or wrong; everything was “relative” Such beliefs became popular especially in the 1920s with the rise of modernism