History of special relativity History of special relativity The history of special relativity consists of many theoretical results and empirical findings obtained by Albert A. Michelson, Hendrik Lorentz, Henri Poincaré and others. It culminated in the theory of special relativity proposed by Albert Einstein and subsequent work of Max Planck, Hermann Minkowski and others. Although Isaac Newton based his physics on absolute time and space, he also adhered to the principle of relativity of Galileo Galilei restating it precisely for mechanical systems . This can be stated as: as far as the laws of mechanics are concerned, all observers in inertial motion are equally
Tests of general relativity principle could occur in a theory of gravitation, but do not occur in general relativity. Other important theoretical developments included the inception of alternative theories to general relativity, in particular, scalar-tensor theories such as the Brans–Dicke theory; the parameterized post-Newtonian formalism in which deviations from general relativity can be quantified; and the framework of the equivalence principle. Experimentally, new developments in space exploration, electronics and condensed matter physics have made additional precise experiments possible, such as the Pound–Rebka experiment, laser interferometry and lunar rangefinding. Early tests of general relativity were hampered by the lack of viable competitors to the theory: