Lectures. Einstein for Everyone. Einstein for Everyone Nullarbor Press 2007revisions 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Copyright 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 John D. Norton Published by Nullarbor Press, 500 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260 with offices in Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15222 All Rights Reserved John D. An advanced sequel is planned in this series:Einstein for Almost Everyone 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 ePrinted in the United States of America no trees were harmed web*bookTM This book is a continuing work in progress. January 1, 2015. Preface For over a decade I have taught an introductory, undergraduate class, "Einstein for Everyone," at the University of Pittsburgh to anyone interested enough to walk through door.
With each new offering of the course, I had the chance to find out what content worked and which of my ever so clever pedagogical inventions were failures. At the same time, my lecture notes have evolved. This text owes a lot to many. I i i. See How It Flies. TOP TEN UNSOLVED PROBLEMS IN PHYSICS. 8.02 Video Lectures. Electricity and Magnetism. Eric Weisstein's World of Physics. Build an Atom. Personal and Historical Perspectives of Hans Bethe. Britney Spears' Guide to Semiconductor Physics - Lasers and Optoelectronics. Free Physics Books. Sixty Symbols - Physics and Astronomy videos.
The Black Hole. Physics Flash Animations. We have been increasingly using Flash animations for illustrating Physics content. This page provides access to those animations which may be of general interest. The animations will appear in a separate window. The animations are sorted by category, and the file size of each animation is included in the listing. Also included is the minimum version of the Flash player that is required; the player is available free from The categories are: In addition, I have prepared a small tutorial in using Flash to do Physics animations. LInks to versions of these animations in other languages, other links, and license information appear towards the bottom of this page.
The Animations There are 99 animations listed below. Other Languages and Links These animations have been translated into Catalan, Spanish and Basque: En aquest enllaç podeu trobar la versió al català de les animacions Flash de Física. Stephen Wolfram: Computing a theory of everything. Problem of Reciprocity. Back to main course page John D. Norton Department of History and Philosophy of Science University of Pittsburgh Background reading: J. Schwartz and M. What's the Problem? Relativity theory tells us that a moving clock is slowed down and a moving rod is shrunk in the direction of its motion. Each finds the other's clocks slowed and rods shrunk. The Car and the Garage That each finds the other's clocks slowed and rods shrunk is troubling. That perspectival effect should not worry anyone.
Now image that we drive the car at 86.6% speed of light through the garage from right to left. Now this is a serious problem. More formally, we have a true paradox. It IS the case that car is fully trapped with in the garage. It is usually take to be a fatal problem when a theory is shown to harbor contradictions.
Relativity of Simultaneity... ...Solves the Problem Both agree that the two events "left door shut" and "right door shut" happened.