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Old July 7th 17, 08:23 AM posted to sci.astro
Pentcho Valev
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Default Einstein's Light Postulate: the Root of All the Evil in Physics

Joao Magueijo and Lee Smolin discovered that special relativity is "the root of all the evil" and decided to do away with Einstein's false constant-speed-of-light postulate:

"...Dr. Magueijo said. "We need to drop a postulate, perhaps the constancy of the speed of light." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/31/sc...-relative.html

Lee Smolin, The Trouble With Physics, p. 226: "Einstein's special theory of relativity is based on two postulates: One is the relativity of motion, and the second is the constancy and universality of the speed of light. Could the first postulate be true and the other false? If that was not possible, Einstein would not have had to make two postulates. But I don't think many people realized until recently that you could have a consistent theory in which you changed only the second postulate." http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Physic.../dp/0618551050

However a serious danger emerged - without the false postulate modern physics would just disappear:

Joao Magueijo: "In sharp contrast, the constancy of the speed of light has remain sacred, and the term "heresy" is occasionally used in relation to "varying speed of light theories". The reason is clear: the constancy of c, unlike the constancy of G or e, is the pillar of special relativity and thus of modern physics. Varying c theories are expected to cause much more structural damage to physics formalism than other varying constant theories." http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/astro-ph/p.../0305457v3.pdf

So Magueijo and Smolin, honest Einsteinians without any doubt, did play the maverick role during the bestselling period but are much more judicious now:

"But the researchers said they spent a lot of time working on a theory that wouldn't destabilise our understanding of physics. "The whole of physics is predicated on the constancy of the speed of light," Joao Magueijo told Motherboard. "So we had to find ways to change the speed of light without wrecking the whole thing too much." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...ht-discovered/

Pentcho Valev