Review Science-Physics-mv53

Review of Relativity Trail, by L. Swenson.

Author: Roger Luebeck. Trade paperback, 192 pages, colored illustrations and diagrams, publication date 2008, LBWP.


The general unawareness on the part of the casual student that Einstein's special theory of relativity can be understood in absolute terms is something of which this reviewer has long been aware. Unfortunately, no clear accounting of how Einstein's theory can be undersood in such a manner was to be found, until I stumbled into this quirky little gem. Unlike other attempts I've seen which attempt to relate Einstein's results to an "at rest" reference system, Relativity Trail does not employ the ether or a variable speed for light. It should therefore not be regarded as LET or Neo-Lorentzian. Instead, the author proceeds in a manner tightly parallel with Einstein. Einstein's same two postulates are used, but in Relativity Trail, these postulates are formulated in absolute terms, rather than in terms of measure. Thus, light is postulated to have an absolute speed in reality, and the Principle of Relativity is postulated to hold in an absolute sense, against a truly "at rest" frame of reference. That principle is specifically applied to the need for synchronicity (stability) of atoms. The Machian notion of a particle's relationship to totality is intrinsic to that discussion.

With a disregard for the ether, the author instead embraces the notion of an evolving structure of space, which he compares to the notions of general relativity. It gets involved, but the author plays down the significance of understanding it, instead focusing on what he refers to as his "basis" for assuming a "universal" or "absolute" structure, which is the time differential which appears between two reunited clocks. He maintains that such a time differential is an absolute truth of the same place-moment, "agreed upon by members of all inertial frames", thus the two clocks must have been actually running at different rates. He states that these truly different rates can be understood only in the context of an "absolute" or "universal" (albeit evolving) frame of reference.

The author first develops the theory in absolute terms, including a formal derivation of time and length contractions, which live up to his claims of being relatively easy to understand. He then looks at how Einstein presented special relativity.

When the author gets to the punch line, it's surprisingly simple, the manner in which Einstein's treatment can be charted against the same "universal" or "at rest" reference frame used in the author's treatment.

I did not find everything to be perfectly clear the first time I read through this book, and I would call it a quite difficult read. But a second reading went much better, as I thought more carefully about what I was reading. The writing is actually very lucid. Easily recommended, though I'm not sure to just what audience I would recommend it; call it intermediate to advanced, despite the foreword which claims "for any youngster or adult interested in the nature of time and space".

2008/12/22    sc-ph-mv53    Articles copied from uptoncampus.net must be copied in their entirety.