Utmost ignorance in Einsteiniana's schizophrenic world (zombies write
bestsellers):
pp. 32-33: "Maxwell's equations predict that light always moves with a
velocity of 299,792,458 meters per second, and there is no place to
insert the velocity of the source of the light or the velocity of the
receiver. The equations really do seem to assert that the speed of
light will always be measured to be the same, no matter how fast the
source and the receiver of the light are moving relative to each
other. It seems that Maxwell's equations are telling us that the speed
of light is a constant of nature. This really is a bizarre assertion,
so let us spend a little more time exploring its meaning. Imagine that
light is shining out from a flashlight. According to common sense, if
we run fast enough we could in principle catch up with the front of
the beam of light as it advances forward. Common sense might even
suggest that we could jog alongside the front of the beam if we
managed to run at the speed of light. But if we are to follow
Maxwell's equations to the letter, then no matter how fast we run, the
beam still recedes away from us at a speed of 299,792,458 meters per
second. If it did not, the speed of light would be different for the
person running compared to the person holding the flashlight,
contradicting Michelson and Morley's experimental results and our
assertion that the speed of light is a constant of nature, always the
same number, irrespective of the motion of the source or the
observer."
John Norton rebukes bestselling zombies but to no effect:
http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/papers/Chasing.pdf
John Norton: "Finally, in an apparent eagerness to provide a seamless
account, an author may end up misstating the physics. Kaku (2004, p.
45) relates how Einstein found that his aversion to frozen light was
vindicated when he later learned Maxwell's theory:
Michio Kaku: "When Einstein finally learned Maxwell's equations, he
could answer the question that was continually on his mind. As he
suspected, he found that there were no solutions of Maxwell's
equations in which light was frozen in time. But then he discovered
more. To his surprise, he found that in Maxwell's theory, light beams
always traveled at the same velocity, no matter how fast you moved."
John Norton again: This is supposedly what Einstein learned as a
student at the Zurich Polytechnic, where he completed his studies in
1900, well before the formulation of the special theory of relativity.
Yet the results described are precisely what is not to be found in the
ether based Maxwell theory Einstein would then have learned. That
theory allows light to slow and be frozen in the frame of reference of
a sufficiently rapidly moving observer."
http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/1743/2/Norton.pdf
John Norton: "In addition to his work as editor of the Einstein papers
in finding source material, Stachel assembled the many small clues
that reveal Einstein's serious consideration of an emission theory of
light; and he gave us the crucial insight that Einstein regarded the
Michelson-Morley experiment as evidence for the principle of
relativity, whereas later writers almost universally use it as support
for the light postulate of special relativity. Even today, this point
needs emphasis. The Michelson-Morley experiment is fully compatible
with an emission theory of light that CONTRADICTS THE LIGHT
POSTULATE."
Pentcho Valev
pva...@yahoo.com