From Newton to Einstein: the birth of Special Relativity

TL;DR

This paper discusses the revolutionary development of Special Relativity by Einstein, which transformed concepts of space, time, and mechanics to reconcile electromagnetism with the principle of relativity, leading to mass-energy equivalence.

Contribution

It highlights Einstein's reworking of space and time concepts, introducing the invariance of the speed of light and reformulating Newtonian mechanics.

Findings

Introduction of the invariance of the speed of light

Reformulation of Newtonian mechanics

Discovery of mass-energy equivalence

Abstract

Physics was in crisis at the beginning of the twentieth century because the newborn Maxwell's electromagnetism defied mechanistic preconceptions. Albert Einstein understood that the solution to the crisis required an audacious reworking of the concepts of space and time. Special Relativity deeply modified our way of regarding space and time, in order to harmonize electromagnetism with the principle of relativity. As a consequence, lengths and elapsed times were stripped of the invariant character that classical Physics conferred them; in their place, the speed of light acquired that privileged status. Such revolutionary change forced Einstein to reformulate Newtonian mechanics, a step that led him to discover the mass-energy equivalence.