100th Anniversary of E=mc^2

Starker_Kull writes "E=mc^2 was published as part of Einstein's theory of Special Relativity 100 years ago today." From the article: "In 1905, it was final proof of the genius and imagination of a young German-born scientist who had yet to land a university post. It seems so simple: three letters standing for energy, mass, and the speed of light, brought together with the tightness of a soundbite."

Comments

100 years old?

[Anonymous Coward]

You'd think they'd have improved on it by now. Something along the lines of E=mc^3, or something like that.

Maybe, just maybe,

[Shadow Wrought]

It only seems like a 100 years...

Remember corectly

[Azmodie]

if i remember corectly E = MC^2 stands for Enrgy = More Chocolate squares

International Year of Physics

[lbmouse]

The main reason 2005 was choosen. Have you {{{hugged}}} your local physicists this year?

Tip of the iceberg

[the eric conspiracy]

1905 was the most productive year for any physicist since Isaac Newton's golden year of 1666. In 1905 not only did Einstein publish on Special Relativity, but also on Brownian Motion (thus finally providing irrefutable evidence of atoms) and laying grounding for the field of statistical mechanics, and the photoelectric effect (claiming the idea of the photon) and laying much of the foundation of quantum mechanics.

Re:Tip of the iceberg

[PD]

Evidence can be irrefutable, and that is what the original sentence said. The theory of atoms is a couple thousand years old, but Einstein merely gave that theory a boost which couldn't be explained any other way, hence the word "irrefutable" would apply.

Re:Just a Theory

[Transcendent]

I believe that atomic blasts are God lighting his own farts.

Ah, the intelligent farting theory.

So what have we got since then?

[TheNarrator]

Lately, Physics has gotten really boring. Don't believe me?

The American Physical Society's Timeline of Physics in the 20th Century

1990-2000s:

1989 - 1992 "The cosmic background radiation is explored." (Never effect me)

1990 "The Hubble Space Telescope becomes operational." (Never effect me)

1998 - 2008 "The solar neutrino puzzle may be solved." (Never effect me)

1998 - 2008 "Weather and climate predictions come of age." (Weather Forecasting?)

1999 - 2009 "Simulation of Brain Functions in Real Time." (Neural Networks have been around since the 60's)

2000 - 2010 "Gravitational waves open a new window on the universe." (Still just General Relativity?)

2000 - 2010 "Photonics competes with electronics. (Just a prediction, hasn't actually happened yet)

Compare this with the 1930s

1938 - 1939 Atomic Nuclear fission is observed in uranium.

1939 The first FM (frequency modulation) radio station is built.

1939 The first helicopter designed for mass production flies.

1936 Sound is recorded on Magnetic Tape

So basically I want to know where is my flying car, d**mit!

Re:So what have we got since then?

[thermopile]

Your point is well taken, but I'm not sure I 100% agree. Look at some other developments in the very broad category of science:

The internet. [while not specifically hard-core science, it is a radical development, with a lot of science behind it.]

Hybrid cars. [nothing radical here, but an important marriage of existing technologies.]

Fluorishing of cell phones & cell infrastructure.

-----

One last point: With the exception of the Trinity shot, when the first atomic bomb was dropped and *OMG it worked!*, the breakthroughs you listed from the 1930's weren't immediately adopted by society at the time. FM radio didn't take off, it still took about 20 years for nuclear fission to be adopted for any real peaceful purposes (Shippingport reactor in ... what, 1958?), and 8-tracks ... well, I won't go there. I contend that some of the lower-level things we read about on slashdot like carbon nanotubes being drawn into 6 inch lengths, or Ruby on Rails development, or the $100 laptop -- that we'll look back on THESE things twenty years from now and say, "Wow! What a period of expansion!"

Just my $0.02. Your mileage may vary.

what should we think of this?

[museumpeace]

I see comments to the effect that much of the big breakthrough is behind us. But think of how the world looked to the nerds of 1905: There was "just a few little details" to be worked out about the atom, why for instance did it radiate and how. The universe was euclidian and straight lines, by god, were just straight. few doubted that you could, though it would be costly, know the exact position of everything and calculate the future positions. A nagging little absence of an aether, to wave for electromagnetic waves as water or air do for their waves. But mostly, we were pretty sure we had it all but figured out. Take heart nerds. We have ALWAYS percieved ourselves as being at that point on the great learning curve of omniscience and we probably always will...its a comfortable place to hang out.