"According to the special theory there is a finite limit to the speed of causal chains, whereas classical causality allowed arbitrarily fast signals. Foundational studies […] soon revealed that this departure from classical causality in the special theory is intimately related to its most dramatic consequences: the relativity of simultaneity, time dilation, and length contraction. By now it had become clear that these kinematical effects are best seen as consequences of Minkowski space-time, which in turn incorporates a nonclassical theory of causal structure. However, it has not widely been recognized that the converse of this proposition is also true: the causal structure of Minkowski space-time contains within itself the entire geometry (topological and metrical structure) of Minkowski space-time." (John A. Winnie," The Causal Theory of Space-Time", 1977)
"The ‘eyes of the mind’ must be able to see in the phase space of mechanics, in the space of elementary events of probability theory, in the curved four-dimensional space-time of general relativity, in the complex infinite dimensional projective space of quantum theory. To comprehend what is visible to the ‘actual eyes’, we must understand that it is only the projection of an infinite dimensional world on the retina." (Yuri I Manin, "Mathematics and Physics", 1981)
"The theory of relativity does, however, force us to change fundamentally our ideas of space and time. We must accept that time is not completely separate from and independent of space, but is combined with it to form an object called space-time." (Stephen Hawking, "A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes", 1988)
"Theoretical physicists accept the need for mathematical beauty as an act of faith.… For example, the main reason why the theory of relativity is so universally accepted is its mathematical beauty." (Paul A M Dirac,"Methods in Theoretical Physics", 1989)
"All the implications of special relativity [...] have been con firmed by direct experiments. There are still people who believe it is “just a theory.” But they are wrong." (Paul C W Davies & John Gribbin, "The Matter Myth: Dramatic Discoveries That Challenge Our Understanding of Physical Reality", 1992)
"Our theories are very esoteric - necessarily so, because we are forced to develop these theories using a language, the language of mathematics, that has not become part of the general equipment of the educated public. Physicists generally do not like the fact that our theories arc so eso teric. On the other hand, I have occasionally heard artists talk proudly about their work being accessible only to a band of cognoscenti and justify this attitude by quoting the example of physical theories like general relativity that also can be understood only by initiates. Artists like physicists may not always be able to make themselves understood by the general public, but esotericism for its own sake is just silly." (Steven Weinberg, "Dreams of a Final Theory: The Scientist’s Search for the Ultimate Laws of Nature", 1992)
"Einstein was thus faced with the following apparent problem. Either give up the principle of relativity, which appears to make physics possible by saying that the laws of physics are independent of where you measure them, as long as you are in a state of uniform motion; or give up Maxwell’s beautiful theory of electromagnetism and electromagnetic waves. In a truly revolutionary move, he chose to give up neither. [...] It is a testimony to his boldness and creativity not that he chose to throw out existing laws that clearly worked, but rather that he found a creative way to live within their framework. So creative, in fact, that it sounds nuts." (Lawrence M Krauss, "Fear of Physics: A Guide for the Perplexed", 1993)
"Quantum mechanics - the theory that explains phenomena on the size of atoms - is right. It is also so conceptually weird that physicists to this day feel uncomfortable with it." (Tony Rothman, "Instant Physics: From Aristotle to Einstein, and Beyond", 1995)
"Relativity theory, of course, does not find that truth depends on the point of view of the observer but, on the contrary, reformulates the laws of physics so that they hold good for all observers, no matter how they move or where they stand. Its central meaning is that the most valued truths in science are independent of the point of view. [...] Einstein did not prove the work of Newton wrong; he provided a larger setting within which some limitations, contradictions, and asymmetries in the earlier physics disappeared." (Gerald Holton, Einstein, History, and Other Passions: The Rebellion Against Science at the End of the Twentieth Century, 1995)
"Use of the term 'model' makes it easier to keep in mind this distinction between theory and reality. By its very nature a model cannot include all the details of the reality it seeks to represent, for then it would be just as hard to comprehend and describe as the reality we want to model. At best, our model should give a reasonable picture of some small part of reality. It has to be a simple (even crude) description; and we must always be ready to scrap or improve a model if it fails in this task of accurate depiction. That having been said, old models are often still useful. The theory of relativity supersedes the Newtonian model, but all engineers use Newtonian mechanics when building bridges or motor cars, or probing the solar system." (David Stirzaker, "Probability and Random Variables: A Beginner’s Guide", 1999)
"What makes writing relativity so tricky is this: Built into ordinary language — in its use of tenses, for example - are many implicit assumptions about the nature of temporal relations that we now know to be false. Most importantly, we have known since 1905 that when you say that two events in different places happen at the same time you are not referring to anything inherent in the events themselves. You are merely adopting a conventional way of locating them that can differ from other equally valid conventional assignments of temporal order which do not have the events happening at the same time." (N David Mermin, "Writing Physics", 1999)
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