5 ms·
With a lot of theories I find the breakthrough in discovery is separate from the breakthrough in explanation. How quickly was it that the familiar four vector
by lordnacho 7y ago
With a lot of theories I find the breakthrough in discovery is separate from the breakthrough in explanation.
How quickly was it that the familiar four vector equations were published? When you come across them now in an undergrad class, it seems so simple because a lot of work went into distilling the insight into the bits that matter. When the theory was still being fleshed out, there were probably a load of intermediate steps acting like a scaffolding.
Likewise with relativity, you can pick up a book and read about it because a lot of people have looked at it over the years and figured out which explanations actually work.
- wwweston 7y agoI think it was Oliver Heaviside who made Maxwell’s equations accessible, maybe even in something like the vector calc forms frequently used today.
- jart 7y agoExplanations that work for whom? I can't speak for electromagnetism or physics. What I can say is that for years I felt like I didn't have the least bit of clarity on color modeling until I referred to Maxwell's primary materials, which are cited by just about no one sadly.
- pas 7y agoCould you explain this a bit? (Excuse me if I'm asking too much, I don't really know what you mean by color modeling, and how it connects to Maxwell - or maybe you are talking about wavelengths?)
- jart 7y agoOne of Modest Maxwell's hobbies was color photography. I wouldn't want to rob you of the joys of discovering the rest.
- abecedarius 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_triangle#Maxwell's_disc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_triangle#Maxwell's_disc