Scientific measurements and the influence of mechanical and perceptual error in special relativity

Abstract

The true meaning of the special theory of relativity for light is described by incorporating the first description of relativity of time, space, and velocity written by Isaac Newton in the 17th Century, together with the intrinsic properties of light determined elegantly by James Clerk Maxwell in the 18th Century. Diagrams derived from Newton’s work assist in properly explaining light-mass interactions introduced theoretically in the 20th Century. Because true absolute magnitudes of these variables are distinct from measurements of these quantities, both experimental error and perceptual error have caused widespread confusion and false extrapolations of the meaning of special relativity that are addressed here. Time does not dilate its rate of progression if detectors or observers undergo motion through space.