2959: Beam of Light

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Beam of Light

Title text: Einstein's theories solved a longstanding mystery about Mercury: Why it gets so hot. "It's because," he pointed out, "the sun is right there."

Explanation

Albert Einstein is famous for his theory of special relativity (which deals with the interactions between high speeds and the perceptions of time), and he developed this theory, in part, by imagining himself flying alongside a beam of light. Thought experiments such as this can reveal what appear to be fundamental principles of the universe that can revolutionize scientific understanding.

In this comic, Albert Einstein is depicted having an early version of this thought experiment. At this stage of theory development, it is less about breaking down the complex nature of relativity and more about how fun it would be to go really fast. So his thought experiment is currently just, so to speak, a flight of fantasy. (Although even Einstein's "NYYOOOM" sound of a car whizzing by is the sound of the Doppler effect, which alludes strongly to the relativistic Doppler effect and redshift.) Since this is early in his life, he is most likely sitting in the Swiss patent office he is so famous for working at, when he got his groundbreaking ideas.

In a similar vein, the title text refers to one of the long-standing issues about Mercury: its orbit around the Sun doesn't quite match what Newtonian physics would predict. We now know that this is accounted for by general relativity, another of Einstein's notable theories (which relates how gravity, or the space-time curvature that we understand as gravity, influences time and space, including planetary orbits) that was further developed out from the framework of special relativity. Again, we find ourselves overhearing his thoughts before he reaches any insights that will start to explain this. Instead he is stuck at just 'imagining' that Mercury is hot due to its proximity to the Sun, which isn't a particularly novel or useful conclusion, or close to what we would now recognize as Einstein's much-lauded theory.

At around the time of the comic's scenario, being only the first stages of Einstein's thoughts about Relativity, the issue of the Sun's heat was still considered a mystery. The Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism was proposed as the cause of the Sun's heat but was later superseded by the more modern understanding of nuclear fusion. The Yarkovsky effect had also been previously described as how thermal effects may influence orbital dynamics; this is still useful to know about in the case of asteroids but is not considered a significant factor for Mercury. Neither of these things were ever the focus of Einstein's own studies, though in 1915 he showed that General Relativity could explain Mercury's orbital anomalies, and independent observations during a 1919 solar eclipse helped confirm the principles and make Einstein famous.

An older version of Einstein was previously drawn in 1206: Einstein and 1233: Relativity.

Also, a comic with a similar punchline to this one is 2689: Fermat's First Theorem, which has Pierre de Fermat instead of Einstein.

Transcript

[Albert Einstein (a relatively young version, drawn with dark curly hair and a dark moustache) sitting on a chair, with a thought bubble above his head. There are papers, books and a cup on the desk in front of him.]

Einstein (thinking): Nyoooooooooom!

Einstein (thinking): I'm so fast!

Einstein (thinking): Nyyooooooooom!

[Caption below the panel:]

The first few times Einstein imagined flying alongside a beam of light, he didn't have any particular insights.

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Discussion

hi 172.68.174.143 (talk) 04:37, 16 July 2024 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Hello, could you please sign your post? OmniDoom (talk) 04:47, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

@OmniDoom: I have signed the post for them. —megan ^talk/_contribs 04:58, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

megan detected 🤩🤩🤩 172.69.43.185 07:14, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

It's just a thematic name. If you keep overreacting to it, we can do this. —megan ^talk/_contribs 07:49, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

aw hell yeah, melt the school computers i use to edit this wiki 141.101.98.110 08:10, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

I totally thought it said Epstein at first, and I was trying to make sense of a seemingly dark, oblique, and dated joke.172.70.210.141 05:00, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

randall would never 172.69.43.185 07:14, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

"Up your nose with a relativistic rubber hose" - Vinnie Barbarino These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 19:29, 20 July 2024 (UTC)

I thought the "didn't have any particular" was a pun, because at the time light was not recognized as a particle but a wave. 141.101.109.167 08:34, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

thats me whenever im on a sled downhill An user who has no account yet (talk) 10:55, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

calvin? is that you? 172.71.150.196 20:07, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

If Einstein is traveling at the speed of light then he is not experiencing time so he would not be able to have any insights. KingPenguin (talk) 04:55, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

This is a gedanken experiment, and thus he could have them while contemplating going at that speed. --Kynde (talk) 10:49, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Though nowhere is it made explicit, and it probably doesn't warrant either Explanation or Transcript notes to this effect, I have a strong feeling that Albert is seated at his Patent Office desk, taking a break from reviewing patent applications (the paperwork directly in front of him). Just a thought, as it would be presumptuous to put this in as a main article edit... 172.70.91.96 12:20, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

I think it could be relevant to mention. --Kynde (talk) 10:49, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

I have just created the pages Albert Einstein and the Category:Comics featuring Albert Einstein as there are now three comics where Randall has drawn Albert. I have added those three. Maybe there could be more? Maybe we should also add any comic where Einstein is directly mentioned or referenced (like with the swizz patent office like in 505: A Bunch of Rocks.) Not sure though about the latter. But as said just above the patent office is a know reference. --Kynde (talk) 10:49, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

My last high school year coincided with the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. One day when our class monitor operated an infrared thermometer in a daily routine, I jokingly suggested that whoever doubts their health status move the thermometer really fast towards their forehead so that the measured value would be lowered due to blueshift. The explanation here reminded me of the story and that, alas, our monitor is talented and charming now and then, but not do I. — 物灵 (talk) 18:42, 1 August 2024 (UTC)

I was the one who said Hi with no signature 108.162.245.8 04:47, 12 September 2024 (UTC)