[guest39538]

For Einstein to explain special relativity he needed to explain a length contraction of space-time, so he used the Lorentz visual transformations and unjustifiably turned them into physical length contractions. 


So in answer to the question , did Einstein steal the Lorentz idea?  No, he just exaggerated it beyond rational thought to conclude a ''rubber type'' space.

[PmbNEP]

I'm a big fan of Albert Einstein, so I just wanted to clear the air about this. It is true that Lorentz, a Nobel Prize winner, published the equations of relative motion a year before Einstein. These equations still bear his name. Einstein's original contribution (E=mc^2)is actually derived by simply substituting the speed of light (c)into a Newtonian equation: E=mv^2.  So why does Einstein get all the credit? I think I know the answer, but I want to hear from others.

No. Einstein never stole anything. For details of the history behind it please see:
See: www dot newenglandphysics dot org slash common_misconceptions slash einstein_did_not_plagiarize dot htm

E = mv^2 is not a Newtonian expression. The energy, E, in Newtonian mechanics that you have in mind is kinetic energy and changes only with speed whereas in relativity it's the total energy which equals the sum of rest energy + kinetic energy. etc.

[Craig W. Thomson]

E = mv^2 is not a Newtonian expression. The energy, E, in Newtonian mechanics that you have in mind is kinetic energy and changes only with speed whereas in relativity it's the total energy which equals the sum of rest energy + kinetic energy. etc.

Yes, good answer. Nice to see you.

Are you a moderator here? How do you feel about anthropogenic climate change? I expect to find skeptics like Bored Chemist and Tim the Plumber at sites like this, but alancalverd is a moderator. I totally disagree with his take on this important subject, and unlike with waitedavid137, I DO understand this subject fully. These guys make me want to lose my cool and get trolled right out of here.

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=65677.0

[PmbNEP]

E = mv^2 is not a Newtonian expression. The energy, E, in Newtonian mechanics that you have in mind is kinetic energy and changes only with speed whereas in relativity it's the total energy which equals the sum of rest energy + kinetic energy. etc.

Yes, good answer. Nice to see you.

Are you a moderator here? How do you feel about anthropogenic climate change? I expect to find skeptics like Bored Chemist and Tim the Plumber at sites like this, but alancalverd is a moderator. I totally disagree with his take on this important subject, and unlike with waitedavid137, I DO understand this subject fully. These guys make me want to lose my cool and get trolled right out of here.

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=65677.0 [nofollow]

No. I'm not a moderator here. I own my own forum. It's in my website that I created to help people learn physics. The website itself is under construction and will be so for a very long time. However the forum is in use. It's an invitation only forum.

david waite is a moron. He's like that because he can't admit to his mistakes when they're pointed out to him.

[Clanting]

As an (experimental) physicist, may I make the following observations:

yes, Lorentz was one of the most important physicists;
anecdote: Einstein refused Lorentz' chair, as he felt he did not stand up to the great Lorentz . . .

no, I would not say Einstein stole Lorentz ideas: Einstein was brilliant in his understanding (but was not a brilliant mathematical physicist, as were Lorentz, Bose and others).
The important contribution Einstein made was combining his expertise with free thinking: while Lorentz and others had basically proofed the special relativity, they simply could not accept the results and the consequences, and therefore continued to assume the equations were not correct.
Einstein, however, gave the correct interpretation, and further developed the ideas . . .

A fundamental contribution, that only Einstein appeared to be able to make . . .