Galloping with Light - Einstein, Relativity, and Folklore (2009) (edit title/settings)

INTRODUCTION. Teaching Science to the Layperson is not Distorting but Educating

CHAPTER 1. The Most Famous Equation in History… and its Folklore
The term ‘mass’ and its semantics throughout history
The Difference between Mass and Weight
The Equality between Gravitational Mass and Inertial Mass
The term ‘Energy’ and its Semantics
Kinematic Energy
Potential Energy
Radiant Energy: The Classical Distinction between Particle and Wave
Finally the Equation
Chemical Reaction vs. Nuclear Reaction
Energy and Mass Balances in Combustion and Nuclear Fission
Is it really possible to transform Matter into Energy?
Einstein and the Atomic Bomb
Additional Recommended Reading

CHAPTER 2. The Perception of Time… and its Measurement
What this Book is all about
What is Time? – The Ontology of Time
The Classical Notions of Time and Space
The Modern Ontology and Epistemology of Time
Subjective Time (Perception)
Mrs. Chaplin
Mrs. Albizuri
The End of Innocence… and the inevitable Emergence of the most Profound Questions
Objective Time (Measurement)
Topological Properties of Objective Time: Order, Topological Simultaneity, and Direction
Temporal Order and its Absence (Topological Simultaneity)
The Arrow of Time or the Direction of Time
Metrical Properties of Objective Time: Unity, Uniformity, and Metric Simultaneity
Direct Measurement of Objective Time - Uniformity
Galileo’s Water Clock - Uniformity
From Topological Simultaneity to Metrical Simultaneity
Perception vs. Measurement of Simultaneity – Lightning vs. Thunder
The Current Unit for Time – The Atomic Time and the Theory of Relativity
What we learned
Additional Recommended Reading

CHAPTER 3. The Perception of Space… and its Measurement
What is Space? – The Ontology of Space throughout History
The Euclidean Dogma
The Modern Ontology and Epistemology of Space
The Fall of the Euclidean Dogma
Subjective Space (Percepcion
Necochea’s Space and Descartes
Objective Space (Measurement) – Geometry and Field
Madrid’s Space and Gauss-Riemann
Topological Properties of Objective Space
Metrical Properties of Objective Space – Equality, Unity, Relativity, and Curvature
Standard Object/Process – Relativity of Geometry and Universal Fields
Gravity and Local Curvature of Space – The General Theory of Relativity
The Length of Distant Bodies
The Length of a Body in Motion and its Relation with the Notion of Simultaneity
Historic Evolution of the Measurement of Length up to the current Unit
What we have learned
Additional Recommended Reading

CHAPTER 4. Who was Right: Ptolemy or Copernicus? None… and… Both
What is Motion? – The Ontology and Epistemology of Motion throughout History
What is Motion? – The Ontology and Epistemology of Motion throughout History
The Dynamics Era – da Vinci, Galileo, Newton and Mach
The Giants of the Road
The Principle of Inertia and Galileo’s Principle of Relativity
Newton’s Laws of Motion and Principle of Relativity
The Carrousel by the Church
Newton’s Pail with Water
Is our Planet an Inertial Frame of Reference?
What we have
Additional Recommended Reading

CHAPTER 5. Galloping with Sound – The Grand Cosmic Conspiracy
From the Atlantic Ocean to the Andes, and then to the Wasatch Front
The Epistemological Crossroads for Physics at the end of the 19th Century
The Problems of the Galilean Composition of Velocities
0° Fahrenheit is ‘too cold’ for a ‘Porteño’
Mechanical Waves – Galloping with Sound
The Phenomenon of Interference
The Doppler Effect in Classical Mechanics
If you want to hear you are loved, you should recline your seat
The Doppler Effect when Transmitter and Receiver are in Relative Repose
A Wave is not a Bullet
The inexistent Sound Barrier
Do I Think in English or in Spanish? The Influence of Language in Philosophy
Light IS not, but GOES and COMES at 299.792.458 m/s
Electricity and Magnetism
The Luminiferous Ether – The Culprit is Sound Propagation!
Electromagnetic Ether = Luminiferous Ether = The Culprit is Sound Propagation!
The Ether Hunt and the Absolute Motion of our Planet
The Michelson-Morley Experiment
The Grand Cosmic Conspiracy – The Lorentz’s Principle of Correlation
Lorentz’s Transformation vs. Galileo’s Transformation
What we have learned
Additional Recommended Reading

CHAPTER 6. Galloping with Light – The Special Theory of Relativity
The Principles of Relativity throughout History
The Principle of Special Relativity
Annus mirabilis 1905: Few Words and plenty of Epistemology
Relativity of Simultaneity as a Result of its Conventionality
The Lorentz’s Transformation as a consequence of Einstein’s Postulates
The Imagination of an Adolescent reduced to an Impossible Reality
Relativistic Mechanics – Mass and Energy are relative and related by
And… What about Newton’s Universal Gravitation?
Year 1908: From ‘Space’ and ‘Time’ to Minkowski’s ‘Space-Time’
Space-Time Diagrams in Classical Physics
Space-Time Diagrams in the Special Theory
The Space-Time Interval: The Grand Absolute in the Special Theory
Other Absolutes
Past, Present, and Future in Classical and Relativistic Physics
The Optical Clock as a Consequence of Einstein’s Postulates
Space Contraction and Time Dilation in Sidereal Space
You better believe it! Space Contraction and Time Dilation in the Subatomic World
A non-Inertial Frame of Reference is locally and momentarily Inertial
What we have learned
Additional Recommended Reading

CHAPTER 7. When Celestial Dynamics becomes again Kinematics – The General Theory of Relativity
The Law of Equality between Gravitational and Inertial Masses
Experimental Confirmation of the Equality between Gravitational and Inertial Masses
The Giant of the Road never braked: A Horizontal Gravitational Field appeared
The Carousel by the Church never rotated: A Radial Gravitational Field appeared
The Classical Gravitational Field and its Interpretation as Acceleration
The Free-Fall – The Fundamental Concept of Local Inertial System
Tidal Effects
Einstein’s General Principle of Equivalence
The Deflection of Light by a Gravitational Field
Gravitational Time Dilation or Gravitational Red-shift
Einstein’s Principles of Relativity and of General Covariance
The Geometry of Space-Time within the Carrousel
The Absolute or Tensorial Calculus – Scalars, Vectors and Tensors
The Metric Tensor: From Necochea to Madrid and from Madrid to Space-Time
Eureka: The Metric Tensor includes the Gravitational Field!
The Field Equation: From Newton to Poisson and from Poisson to Einstein
Experimental Confirmation of the General Theory of Relativity
Precession of Mercury Perihelion
Gravitational Deflection of Light
Gravitational Time Dilation
Pound-Rebka Experiment
Hafele-Keating Experiment
The Global Positioning System (GPS)
The Twin Paradox is not a Paradox
The Fourth Experimental Proof: Light Propagation Delay
Houston… Tranquility Base here… the Eagle has landed
The Brans-Dicke Theory and the Nordtvedt Effect
The Fifth Experimental Test: The Nordtvedt Effect - Einstein was right once again
Additional Recommended Reading

EPILOGUE. The Seduction of Pseudoknowledge – When Folklore becomes Pseudoscience
Science, Epistemology, and Linguistics
Science and the Concepts of Reality and Truth
Science and Language
The Validity of the Theory of Relativity
Relativity and Subjectivism
Folklore is Pseudoknowledge, and may become Pseudoscience
Pseudoknowledge
The Humble Pseudoknowledge: Innocuous Folklore
Pseudointellectualism: Irritating and Pernicious Folklore – Pseudoscience
Conspiracy Theories: Highly Pernicious Folklore
How to identify Pseudoknowledge
Why I wrote this Book and what is next
Additional Recommended Reading