Relativity-A Simple Explanation

What is relativity and how does it work? This page is here to answer that question and hopefully clear up any other misunderstandings you may have about the theory.

Special Theory

Albert Einstein's main purpose in developing his first theory of relativity, the special theory, was to prove that absolute rest does not exist anywhere in the universe. This means that no single object is completely ummoving in space. It is always moving in one direction or another, even when it does not actually seem to be in motion. What Einstein concluded was that any object has the right to see itself as being at rest from its own point of view. For example, a man sitting on a bench waiting for a bus to pick him up has the right to say that he is at rest and that the bus is moving toward him. However, a person sitting on that bus looking out his window also has the right to say that he is at rest and that the man sitting on the bench is moving toward him. The theory of relativity states that both of these situations are equally correct. Read on to find out how.