dluther Posted April 29, 2003 Posted April 29, 2003 I just finished talking with a man named Joao Magueijo after reading his book "Faster than the speed of light" which HE proves that einstein is wrong, anyone else read the book? any thoughts on this? What do you think of VSL theory?
fafalone Posted April 29, 2003 Posted April 29, 2003 Well first of all I'd be highly skeptical of some no-name person who writes a book (vs. a research paper, which would be required to refute the experimental evidence supporting einstein). Books do NOT prove anything wrong. Technical research papers presented to the scientific community (not the general public) do that.
fafalone Posted April 29, 2003 Posted April 29, 2003 Where's the evidence for it? I've seen evidence that the speed of light has not been constant over large timescales. It's also a well known fact that light travels slower through mediums (like air or water), but I haven't read this book... so perhaps you can summarize what evidence the author presented.
T_FLeX Posted April 29, 2003 Posted April 29, 2003 Is he the guy that was in Scientific American, the guy from portugal? I skimmed through that article, and from what I read the guy is just looking for attention.
dluther Posted April 29, 2003 Author Posted April 29, 2003 I'm still reading the book, though I did som research on google and I came across this article
dluther Posted April 29, 2003 Author Posted April 29, 2003 http://www.orbits.00space.com/vsl.html He's a leacturer from harvard, thats all i know
fafalone Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Originally posted by dluther http://www.orbits.00space.com/vsl.html He's a leacturer from harvard, thats all i know E = mc2 is and always has been true. No. This is not true. It has never been true, and it never will be true. No body is completely at rest.
the GardenGnome Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 I hoper they spelled Einstein properly on the book. Anyone could say Einstein was wrong, but to prove that it is not true you need proof.
dluther Posted April 30, 2003 Author Posted April 30, 2003 Yeah, I was just curious to see what everyones thought was, on the idea. Thanks
dluther Posted April 30, 2003 Author Posted April 30, 2003 I'm not fully done the book, but from what I hear from other's who have read the book is that he is found Einstein's theory of special relativity faulty. He is introducing a new theory of Varying Speed of Light. When I'm done reading the book I can provide you with his "evidence" proving his theorys... Does anyone know of any good books/sites on the Cosmos?
Radical Edward Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 I wish people would stop saying that because the speed of light changes with time, Einstein is Wrong. It shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what Einstein meant by "the speed of light is constant for all observers" Yes the speed of light may change with time, apparently there is evidence (I have not looked into it in detail) But that would be as a result of the properties of the medium (vacuum) changing, rather than a flaw in Einstein's theory, proving him wrong.
Sayonara Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Originally posted by Radical Edward I wish people would stop saying that because the speed of light changes with time, Einstein is Wrong. Like T_FLeX said, people who use "Einstein Wrong!!!!" as their header or title are just attention seeking. Many such people are actually so ignorant of Einstein that they don't know he made some absolutely hooting great errors and was the first to admit it, proving himself wrong. They seem to think science is about being able to say "I'm right and you're wrong", or "I know something you don't know", rather than just understanding all the STUFF that goes on around us. It's the whole pathetic, angsty "consume your betters" human underachievement supercompensation thing.
JaKiri Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Like 'God does not play dice', when any fool knows he likes a bit of Yahtzee on an evening.
dluther Posted April 30, 2003 Author Posted April 30, 2003 I personaly dont believe in his Einstein wrong theory, I just posted it on this forum to see if anyone else had read the book and wanted to know how they reacted.
Radical Edward Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Even that link doesn't seem to suggest that he is saying Einstein is wrong though. In fact he uses Einstein's theory (in E=mc2) to support his argument.
Radical Edward Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Originally posted by fafalone E = mc2 is and always has been true. No. This is not true. It has never been true, and it never will be true. No body is completely at rest. that doesn't stop the relation being being true though. and what about in it's own rest frame?
dluther Posted April 30, 2003 Author Posted April 30, 2003 Originally posted by Sayonara³ I can't find the book anywhere. :-/ Book location and description here http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/item.asp?Catalog=Books&Section=Books&Cat=&Lang=en&Item=978073820525&mscssid=40333R7P5ESM9H2JD1TXW4JXT62WBWA9&WSID=0704743A9DDE0293478AB438BDA2EFC3D6D73530
Radical Edward Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 I wonder if he ever states that GR could be wrong, or whether that is just publisher hype.
blike Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 ! I almost picked up this book about 5 weeks ago. Its on my "to get" list, I'll let you know how it turns out.
blike Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 the summary says, "...idea that contradicts Albert Einstein? As Magueijo shows in this masterful book, his theory of the varying speed of light (VSL)... " I'm a bit confused on this issue. I was under the assumption that einstein was saying the speed of light is constant for all observers in a vacuum. I didn't think he was talking about its absolute measurable speed; he was merely saying that all observers must measure light at the same speed in a vaccum, regardless of relative motion or graviational pull. Is he saying that speed of light is always (temporally speaking) the constant C in a vaccum?
dluther Posted April 30, 2003 Author Posted April 30, 2003 In a way, though, it doesn't matter whether Magueijo is right and Einstein was wrong. Because this is a book about ideas and their place in the world. It's about the way scientists work together and the things that drive them apart. It is a story of a scientific Speculation... I didn't expect such a negitave responce. Just wanted to know if anyone has heard of the VSL theory, and what there opionin was on it?
blike Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Hehe, a good way to get people riled up is to say einstein is wrong But yea, the subtitle of the book does include speculation. I doubt he says that he has proved einstein wrong without a doubt (maybe though). He's probably just speculating, which is where all ideas must begin.
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