A criticism of the treatment by modern physics textbooks of mass-energy equivalence in special relativity : by Robert C. Krabel

Some discussion of relativity appears in all modern physics textbooks. At the minimum, some texts give only a fair formulas. At the most, ether texts devote a whole unit or chapter to special relativity. In those modern physics texts which devote a specific section to relativity, the topic is usually introduced by a statement of Einstein's postulates for special relativity. These postulates are stated in Jauncey's Modern Physics as follows: "It is impossible to conduct an experiment on a body such as the earth or a train which will tell us whether or not the body is moving in space.... As a consequence of this law, Einstein states that the velocity of light as measured in a vacuum is always the same, no matter hew fast the observer thinks he is traveling. A further consequence is that a body cannot travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum."(1) These postulates stem from a century of peculiar experiments involving light and relative notion. The first consequence, as stated in Jauncey's book, rests specifically on double star observations and the Michelsen-Merley experiment. (1) Jauncey, Modern Physics, New York City, New York, D. Van Nestrand Co. Inc, 1949, p 269-70.M.S. (Master of Science