(?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)
Stephen Hawking

“Newton’s theory, if a pulse of light is sent from one place to another, different observers would agree on the time that the journey took (since time is absolute), but will not always agree on how far the light traveled (since space is not absolute). Since the speed of the light is just the distance it has traveled divided by the time it has taken, different observers would measure different speeds for the light. In relativity, on the other hand, all observers must agree on how fast light travels. They still, however, do not agree on the distance the light has traveled, so they must therefore now also disagree over the time it has taken. (The time taken is the distance the light has traveled – which the observers do not agree on – divided by the light’s speed – which they do agree on.) In other words, the theory of relativity put an end to the idea of absolute time!”

Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
Read more quotes from Stephen Hawking


Share this quote:
Share on Twitter

Friends Who Liked This Quote

To see what your friends thought of this quote, please sign up!


This Quote Is From

A Brief History of Time A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
470,204 ratings, average rating, 13,755 reviews

Browse By Tag