You’re invited to this free public science talk on Saturday: Dr. Knop Talks Astronomy

Title: Time Dilation and Simultaneity in Special Relativity

Date: Saturday, May 30, 2009

Time: 10:00 AM Pacific Time (SL Time)

Location: The large amphitheater on the sim named StellaNova - SLURL

Abstract: Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity is one of the bedrocks of modern science. It’s an extremely well-tested theory that underlies much of our understanding of the Universe. Yet, it remains a difficult to understand mystery to many people. In this talk, I’ll show how the basic assumptions of Einstein’s theory lead to the conclusion that moving clocks run slow, and that whether or not two events happen at the same time depend on how you are moving relative to them. All of this may be understood without any recourse to mathematics. As a bonus, I will show how with only an understanding of early high-school level algebra, you can actually derive the formula for how slow moving clocks run given the basic tenets of Special Relativity.

This science talk is intended for the general public. All are welcome. It’s part of a series of popular talks called Dr. Knop Talks Astronomy. Dr. Knop was on one of the teams that discovered the accelerating expansion of the universe. Feel free to ask questions or make comments.

Produced in association with the Meta Institute for Computational Astrophysics (MICA). For more information, see http://mica-vw.org/