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> Einstein did not discover that the speed of light was fixed. This was a consequence of Maxwell's research Maxwell certainly did discover that the speed of li

> Einstein did not discover that the speed of light was fixed. This was a consequence of Maxwell's research Maxwell certainly did discover that the speed of light was fixed. But he did not discover that it was fixed for all observers. It was presumed to be fixed relative to some reference medium that permeated the universe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminiferous_aether https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminiferous_aether There were 40 years of experiments after Maxwell figured out the speed of light where people tried to show how the aether worked and how the Earth moved through it, before Einstein "discovered" the idea that the speed of light was fixed relative to all observers rather than relative to the universe. Which is deeply weird, if you live in a universe where nothing like that has ever been discovered before.

mjburgess 3y ago
All you're saying is that it's Maxwell + Michelson–Morley (who discovered there was no aether) that we should thank, more than maxwell alone. That's true. That is even moreso to my point that einstein did not just say, "what if crazy-unprecedented-idea? " Add more names if you like, that's only further evidence of my view.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
empath-nirvana 3y ago
Again, he didn't _discover_ it. He just _assumed it_ and worked out the consequences if it were true, which turned out to be _very weird_. Then it was confirmed through experiment that he accurately predicted the consequences of it.
- Retric 3y ago
  No, experiments showing a fixed speed of light came first. Ex: 1887 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson–Morley_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson–Morley_experiment It’s a critical point people miss. Rather than come up with his ideas in a vacuum Albert Einstein instead was trying to explain some results which seemed really counterintuitive. He made many other predictions which where tested afterwards. People also repeated the speed of lights tests in new ways, but the light experiments where consistent with earlier results.
  - empath-nirvana 3y ago
    Yes, I know that. What was proved by experiment later was the _consequences_ of a fixed speed of light that he worked out. (ie: time dilation, etc)
    - Retric 3y ago
      Did you heavily edit your comment?
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
Retric 3y ago
> There were 40 years of experiments after Maxwell figured out the speed of light where people tried to show how the aether worked and how the earth moved through it, before Einstein “discovered” the idea that the speed of light was fixed relative to all observers rather than relative to the universe. Not quite, experiments already showed the speed of light was fix independent of earths motion before Einstein did anything. 1887: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson–Morley_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson–Morley_experiment Which is why his ideas caught on so quickly, they where an elegant solution for a well known experimental result.
- somenameforme 3y ago
  I'd add a not quite to you as well! The Michelson Morley experiment is fabulously interesting. There's a famous quote from Michelson from 1894: "...It seems probable that most of the grand underlying principles [of physics] have been firmly established and that further advances are to be sought chiefly in the rigorous application of these principles to all the phenomena which come under our notice. It is here that the science of measurement shows its importance — where quantitative work is more to be desired than qualitative work. An eminent physicist remarked that the future truths of physical science are to be looked for in the sixth place of decimals." Note that quote is from 7 years after his experiment. Michelson did not believe his own result! The idea that he was discovered was correct, was so utterly weird and difficult to understand, that the possibility of it being true simply did not even occur to him, or most of anybody for that matter! He actually thought that his failure to measure the speed of light was related to instrumentation or precision, and he would repeatedly pursue various efforts to try to correct his mistake, which was not a mistake at all! Basically he showed that (from the perspective of the time) 2+2=5. Naturally he rejected this without even really considering it, while Einstein not only accepted that it might be true, but then spent years working out an explanation for why! Had Einstein been wrong, it would have looked like the odd behavior of a man battling with his sanity, even more so given that much of his key research came while he was working as a patent inspector, no university of the time being willing to take him on as staff!
- St4rBr1ght 3y ago
  Michelson & Morley was a flawed experiment.

mjburgess 3y ago

All you're saying is that it's Maxwell + Michelson–Morley (who discovered there was no aether) that we should thank, more than maxwell alone. That's true. That is even moreso to my point that einstein did not just say, "what if crazy-unprecedented-idea? " Add more names if you like, that's only further evidence of my view.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

empath-nirvana 3y ago

Again, he didn't _discover_ it. He just _assumed it_ and worked out the consequences if it were true, which turned out to be _very weird_. Then it was confirmed through experiment that he accurately predicted the consequences of it.

Retric 3y ago
No, experiments showing a fixed speed of light came first. Ex: 1887 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson–Morley_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson–Morley_experiment It’s a critical point people miss. Rather than come up with his ideas in a vacuum Albert Einstein instead was trying to explain some results which seemed really counterintuitive. He made many other predictions which where tested afterwards. People also repeated the speed of lights tests in new ways, but the light experiments where consistent with earlier results.
- empath-nirvana 3y ago
  Yes, I know that. What was proved by experiment later was the _consequences_ of a fixed speed of light that he worked out. (ie: time dilation, etc)
  - Retric 3y ago
    Did you heavily edit your comment?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

Retric 3y ago

> There were 40 years of experiments after Maxwell figured out the speed of light where people tried to show how the aether worked and how the earth moved through it, before Einstein “discovered” the idea that the speed of light was fixed relative to all observers rather than relative to the universe. Not quite, experiments already showed the speed of light was fix independent of earths motion before Einstein did anything. 1887: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson–Morley_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson–Morley_experiment Which is why his ideas caught on so quickly, they where an elegant solution for a well known experimental result.

somenameforme 3y ago
I'd add a not quite to you as well! The Michelson Morley experiment is fabulously interesting. There's a famous quote from Michelson from 1894: "...It seems probable that most of the grand underlying principles [of physics] have been firmly established and that further advances are to be sought chiefly in the rigorous application of these principles to all the phenomena which come under our notice. It is here that the science of measurement shows its importance — where quantitative work is more to be desired than qualitative work. An eminent physicist remarked that the future truths of physical science are to be looked for in the sixth place of decimals." Note that quote is from 7 years after his experiment. Michelson did not believe his own result! The idea that he was discovered was correct, was so utterly weird and difficult to understand, that the possibility of it being true simply did not even occur to him, or most of anybody for that matter! He actually thought that his failure to measure the speed of light was related to instrumentation or precision, and he would repeatedly pursue various efforts to try to correct his mistake, which was not a mistake at all! Basically he showed that (from the perspective of the time) 2+2=5. Naturally he rejected this without even really considering it, while Einstein not only accepted that it might be true, but then spent years working out an explanation for why! Had Einstein been wrong, it would have looked like the odd behavior of a man battling with his sanity, even more so given that much of his key research came while he was working as a patent inspector, no university of the time being willing to take him on as staff!
St4rBr1ght 3y ago
Michelson & Morley was a flawed experiment.