Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics (Perennial Classics)

by Gary Zukav

A “constant velocity of light” is exactly what would result if moving measuring rods became shorter and moving clocks ran more slowly because a moving observer would measure the speed of light with a shorter measuring rod (less distance for the light to travel) and a slower clock (more time to do it in) than an observer at rest. Each observer, however, would consider his own rod and clock to be quite normal and unimpaired. Therefore, both observers would find the speed of light to be 186,000 miles per second and both of them would be puzzled by this fact if they were still bound by the classical transformation laws. These were the initial fruits of Einstein’s basic assumptions (the principle of the constancy of the velocity of light and the principle of relativity): First, a moving object appears to contract in its direction of motion and become shorter as its velocity increases until, at the speed of light, it disappears altogether. Second, a moving clock runs more slowly than a clock at rest and continues to slow its rhythm as its velocity increases until, at the speed of light, it stops running altogether.