Reflections November 2015
A lesson in Western Civ
Why do the humanities continue to lose students to STEM fields?
On my desk the book is open to page nine, where it says, “I stand at the window of a railway carriage which is traveling uniformly, and drop a stone on the embankment, without throwing it.” Einstein is speaking here, addressing laymen in the 1920 translation of his handy primer Relativity: The Special and General Theory. To him on the train, the stone falls in a straight line, while a pedestrian outside sees it trace a parabola. This simple act shows that motion is relative to the position of the viewer. So begins the presentation of the greatest breakthrough in modern physics, not with a formula, but a scenario. And it’s not a one-time event in the book. Einstein returns to it again and again, adding new elements with each step of the demonstration: a raven flying by, a man walking through the railway car, not sitting down. He really wants you to pretend you are there in the carriage and to see...
New to The New Criterion?
Subscribe for one year to receive ten print issues, and gain immediate access to our online archive spanning more than four decades of art and cultural criticism.
Subscribe