E=MC2 and the Goblet of Nonsense Vol 1

The story goes that in 1905 the genius Einstein derived E=MC² from his theory of special relativity, and that E=MC² explained how mass is converted to energy, and led to the development of nuclear weapons. At least, that is the story told by supporters of Einstein.

Opponents of Einstein point to the fact that in the preceding years other scientists had already written equations relating mass to energy, such a E=(3/4)MC². In 1952 Herbert Ives published a paper in which he claimed that Einstein's 1905 derivation was invalid, because Einstein had merely assumed what he claimed to have derived; and opponents of Einstein point to Ives paper to discredit Einstein's derivation, despite having no real understanding of what Einstein actually did; whilst Einstein's supporters describe Einstein's derivation as a masterpiece, also with no apparent understanding of what Einstein actually did in his derivation.

E=MC² has proved to be something of an enigma, with nobody really figuring out what it actually means. PBS NOVA once asked 10 famous physicists to describe Einstein's equation to curious non-physicists, and got 10 very different answers, ranging from the partly correct “when an object emits light, it get lighter”, through the largely irrelevant, to the plain wrong “its not something that happens in your kitchen or in everyday life”. There have been 2 famous books written specifically about E=MC², which covered very different ground. The book 'Why does E=MC², and why we should care' was perfectly summed up by an Amazon UK reviewer who wrote “After this book i had one singular and familiar question in my mind.. Why does E=mc^2??? This book did not answer this”. Yet still the book apparently obtained the approval of supposedly reputable scientific organisations such as The Royal Society, and publications such as The New Scientist.

This book sets the record straight, pointing out things that are well-known to competent physicists, such as the fact that E=MC² applies just as much to a spring as to a nuclear bomb; but also explaining things way beyond the comprehension of physicists, such as the the fact that E=(3/4)MC² couldn't possibly be correct, as it would mean no force could ever accelerate an object beyond √(3/4) of the speed of light, which rather makes a mockery of the concept of photons having momentum.

This book also explains why Einstein's 1905 derivation was in fact valid, despite being a ridiculously stupid way to derive E=MC², which displayed an almost total lack of understanding of what E=MC² is actually about. The book also demonstrates that E=MC² is not an equation that describes nature, but is really nothing more than a formula for converting one unit of mass/energy into another.

This book bears a certain similarity to Galileo's 'Dialogue', published in 1632, which features a discussion between a mainstream physicist who advocates the system taught in universities whereby the earth is stationary at the centre of the universe; an alternative physicist who advocates the sun-centred Copernican system, and uses Galileo's clever arguments to make the mainstream system look ridiculous; and a novice. As a result, Galileo's book was banned, and he himself put under house-arrest.

In this book Professor Cockandbull is the stereotypical mainstream physicist, utterly convinced that every aspect of modern physics is completely correct, and determined to condemn any alternative ideas as the work of a crackpot. Frogton is the crackpot physicist, determined to make sense of the universe, and to eradicate the nonsense that complexifies and mystifies the universe. His niece Aurora has little knowledge of maths or physics, so everything has to be explained in such a way that makes sense to a novice.

This is a revised version. It will be free to download on some Sundays.