Special relativity was presented by Albert Einstein in 1905, in a paper entitled On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, written while he was working as a patent examiner in Bern. It is based on two principles: the laws of physics are the same for all observers moving at constant speed, and the speed of light is the same for all of them. From these Einstein concluded that space and time are not absolute, so that moving clocks run slow, moving objects contract in the direction of motion, and events that seem simultaneous to one observer may not be to another. Later in 1905 he showed that mass and energy are equivalent, expressed in the equation E equals mc squared. The theory built on the work of Hendrik Lorentz and Henri Poincare, and it was given a geometric form by Hermann Minkowski.
Before and after
- 3 December 1904Discovery of Himalia
- 28 December 1904Discovery of 19P/Borrelly
- 1905October Manifesto
- 1905Construction of Times Square
- 1905Special relativity
- 1905Establishment of Kaziranga National Park
- 1905Rise of Swadeshi movement
- 1905Founding of Galatasaray S.K.
- from 1905 to 1917Rise of Black Hundreds
More in Science & technology
- 1774Discovery of chlorine
- 1791Discovery of titanium
- 30 June 1808Discovery of boron
- 6 March 1869Periodic table
- 1884Car
- 1894Discovery of argon
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.