The Dutch Physicist Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was often given credit by Albert Einstein for inspiring the notions of Time and Space Dilation. Indeed, it is the mathematical work of Lorentz which Einstein uses as a guide in determining the exact formulations of these very things. However, this credit often seems somewhat misplaced, considering the fact that Lorentz’s actual intention in creating his mathematics was to explain something very much opposing the theory of relativity.
It all started, like so many things, with the fateful experiment of Michelson and Morley in 1887, which determined once and for all the non-existence of the substance known as “ether,” which according to physicists formed the makeup of the vacuum through which light traveled so quickly. In addition, it showed that the speed of light was a constant, independent of one’s motion. As a result of this experiment, some physicists, such as Einstein, searched for entirely new laws of physics, while others, such as Lorentz, searched for ways to reconcile these findings with the existing theories, mathematically.
In other words, Lorentz’s goal was to save the theory of luminiferous ether from annihilation. As a result, he came up with some very revolutionary and very useful mathematics.
The theory Lorentz developed went like this: If the speed of light didn’t seem to change when light was traveling against the “tide” of the ether, perhaps this is the result of a “shrinking” of the distance which it was traveling. In other words, if the force of moving against the ether was strong enough, perhaps everything shrank just a little bit as it pushed against this force. If this was the case, then the light would have less distance to travel (for the experiment itself would have shrunk), and therefore no discrepancy would be measured when compared to light traveling perpendicular to the ether tide. This phenomenon became known as the “Lorentz Contraction.”
Lorentz, in his cleverness, not only came up with the explanation of what was going on in the Michelson-Morley experiment, but created the mathematics to back it up, as well, determining just how much an object would contract depending on its speed relative to the ether.
While the work of Lorentz may have been convincing to some, others, such as Einstein, were not so easily convinced, and continued to look for other possibilities as to why the speed of light does not seem to change depending on an observer’s motion.
In later years, Lorentz would publish many other papers, further refining his theories regarding the electromagnetic (light) phenomenon, and defining its mathematical meanings, much of which did indeed prove very useful to Einstein (particularly a 1904 paper which added the fourth dimension of time into his transformations) as he developed his own 1905 paper which created Special Relativity.
Albert Einstein, reinterpreting the mathematics of Lorentz, utilized this great physicists work in order to finally show the world that time and distance need not be considered absolutes, that just as Lorentz showed mathematically, the problems involved in measuring the speed of light can be resolved if one accept the fact that the four dimensions of space-time can expand and contract dependent on an observer’s reference frame.
Hendrik Antoon Lorentz paved the way for the Time and Space Dilation elements which make up the Special Theory of Relativity.
Einstein, A. (1905). On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies. Annalen der Physik .
Einstein, A. (1961). Relativity: The Special and the General Theory - A clear Explanation that Anyone can Understand. New York, NY: Random House.
Gardner, M. (1962). Relativity Simply Explained. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Davies, P. (1995). About Time - Einstein's Unfinished Revolution. New York: Simon & Schuster.
