12
2 The Ether and the Wave Equation
The result of applying his principle of relativity on Maxwell’s electrodynamics
was expressively formulated by Einstein as the ‘principle of the constancy of the
velocity of light’, cf. Einstein [14, 15]:
‘Any ray of light moves in the “stationary” system of coordinates with a determined
velocity c whether the ray be emitted by a stationary or a moving body. Hence
velocity =
light path
time interval
where time interval is to be taken in the sense of the definition in Chap. 1’.
From this, Einstein deduced the relativistic effects that we will describe in the next
chapter. The velocity c is our speed of light c L , and the ‘time interval’ is the time
display of synchronised clocks (see the next chapter). In Chap. 12, the principle of
the universal constancy of the critical signal velocity will be explained and derived
using our new axiomatic approach.
2 The Ether and the Wave Equation
The result of applying his principle of relativity on Maxwell’s electrodynamics
was expressively formulated by Einstein as the ‘principle of the constancy of the
velocity of light’, cf. Einstein [14, 15]:
‘Any ray of light moves in the “stationary” system of coordinates with a determined
velocity c whether the ray be emitted by a stationary or a moving body. Hence
velocity =
light path
time interval
where time interval is to be taken in the sense of the definition in Chap. 1’.
From this, Einstein deduced the relativistic effects that we will describe in the next
chapter. The velocity c is our speed of light c L , and the ‘time interval’ is the time
display of synchronised clocks (see the next chapter). In Chap. 12, the principle of
the universal constancy of the critical signal velocity will be explained and derived
using our new axiomatic approach.