One Hundred Years of E=MC2

Eric Ward writes "To mark the one hundredth anniversary of Einstein's famous equation, E=mc2, NOVA has gone live this month with a Web site that features exclusive content and podcasts from ten of the worlds top physicists. This once-in-a-lifetime gathering of top scientists such as S. James Gates, Jr., Brian Greene, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Nobel Laureate Sheldon Glashow simplify what the equation means to our world today and the effect it has had on their careers. NOVA online also details how Einstein grappled with the implications of his revolutionary theory of relativity and came to a startling conclusion: that mass and energy are one, related by the formula E=mc2. Viewers will also find lesson plans through the award-winning NOVA Teacher's Guide and a special library resource kit."

Comments

It is E=mc^2

[benhocking]

But m = \gamma m_0, where \gamma = 1/sqrt(1 - \beta^2), and, of course \beta = v/c.

I.e., E = mc^2 = m_0 c^2 / sqrt(1 - (v^2/c^2))

Oh, m_0 is rest mass, in case you didn't know that, and m is the relativistic mass.

Re:What if E = mc^2.0000000001?

[hackstraw]

Newton's 3 laws survived 239 years, I wonder how long Einstein's will last?

Einstein's _theories_ will last until evidence no longer supports them (just like all science).

Newton's _laws_ were and still are wrongly named.

And another pedantic relativity thing. The E=MC^2 was part of the _Special_ Theory of Relativity which says that measurements of time and distance vary as anything moves relative to anything else. This is where the twins where one goes in a rocket near the speed of light and the rocket twin comes back still young and the stationary twin is old (I really hope I didn't embarrass myself by reversing this, but I think this is right).

The other theory of Relativity that Einstein came up with was the _General_ Theory of Relativity that came out in 1915. This is the space-time continuum being bent by gravity.

Einstein was a little upset that he was able to join the two theories into one, but then again that is the goal of many physicists today.

Einstein was a very interesting and good person from everything I have heard and read. RIP.

Re:Plagiarist?

[double-oh three]

Hm. I call bullshit. The same site appears to also support UFOs and some sort of secret Nazi base in Antartica?

Seems like a scientist's National Enquirer.

Re:What did E=MC2 give us the past 100 years?

[Kafir]

I don't know if I fully believe that energy equals mass... To take mass, and BANG, the mass is gone and there is energy, does not ring true to me.

And Newton's first law of motion didn't ring true to Aristotle—clearly objects in motion tend to come to a stop if nothing is pushing them. Our intuition about how the universe works is based on our limited experience of medium-sized objects moving at low speeds on the earth's surface, with the result that all physics post-Aristotle is more or less counterintuitive. The fact that you can't imagine it doesn't mean it isn't so.