Editing Albert Einstein (section)

=== Special relativity ===
{{Main|History of special relativity}}
Einstein's "{{lang|de|Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper}}"<ref name=1905d/> ("On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies") was received on 30 June 1905 and published 26 September of that same year. It reconciled conflicts between [[Maxwell's equations]] (the laws of electricity and magnetism) and the laws of Newtonian mechanics by introducing changes to the laws of mechanics.{{Sfnp|Fölsing|1997|pp=178–198}} Observationally, the effects of these changes are most apparent at high speeds (where objects are moving at speeds close to the [[speed of light]]). The theory developed in this paper later became known as Einstein's special theory of relativity.

This paper predicted that, when measured in the frame of a relatively moving observer, a clock carried by a moving body would appear to [[Time dilation|slow down]], and the body itself would [[Length contraction|contract]] in its direction of motion. This paper also argued that the idea of a [[luminiferous aether]]—one of the leading theoretical entities in physics at the time—was superfluous.<ref group=note name="aBfxO"/>

In his paper on [[mass–energy equivalence]], Einstein produced ''E''{{nbs}}={{nbs}}''mc''<sup>2</sup> as a consequence of his special relativity equations.{{Sfnp|Stachel|2002|pp=vi, 15, 90, 131, [{{GBurl|id=OAsQ_hFjhrAC|p=215}} 215]}} Einstein's 1905 work on relativity remained controversial for many years, but was accepted by leading physicists, starting with [[Max Planck]].<ref group=note name="sBl2q"/>{{Sfnp|Pais|1982|pp=382–386}}

Einstein originally framed special relativity in terms of [[kinematics]] (the study of moving bodies). In 1908, [[Hermann Minkowski]] reinterpreted special relativity in geometric terms as a theory of [[spacetime]]. Einstein adopted Minkowski's formalism in his 1915 [[general theory of relativity]].{{Sfnp|Pais|1982|pp=151–152}}