transformation formulæ as those used by Lorentz in his development of
Maxwell's equations. The latter had shown that, using these formulæ,
the form of the laws for all electromagnetic phenomena maintained
the same form; so Einstein's method proves that using his system of
measurement an observer, anywhere in the universe, would as the result
of his own investigation of electromagnetic phenomena arrive at the
same mathematical statement of them as any other observer, provided
only that the relative-velocity of the two observers was uniform.
Einstein discussed many other most important questions at this time;
but it is not necessary to refer to them in connection with the
present subject. So far as this is concerned, the next important
step to note is that taken in the famous address of Minkowski, in
1908, on the subject of "Space and Time." It would be difficult to
overstate the importance of the concepts advanced by Minkowski. They
marked the beginning of a new period in the philosophy of physics. I
shall not attempt to explain his ideas in detail, but shall confine
myself to a few general statements. His point of view and his line of
development of the theme are absolutely different from those of Lorentz
or of Einstein; but in the end he makes use of the same transformation
formulæ. His great contribution consists in giving us a new geometrical
picture of their meaning. It is scarcely fair to call Minkowski's
development a picture; for to us a picture can never have more than
three dimensions, our senses limit us; while his picture calls for
perception of four dimensions. It is this fact that renders any even
semi-popular discussion of Minkowski's work so impossible. We can all
see that for us to describe any event a knowledge of four coordinates
is necessary, three for the space specification and one for the time. A
complete picture could be given then by a point in four dimensions. All
four coordinates are necessary: we never observe an event except at
a certain time, and we never observe an instant of time except with
reference to space. Discussing the laws of electromagnetic phenomena,
Minkowski showed how in a space of four dimensions, by a suitable
definition of axes, the mathematical transformation of Lorentz and
Einstein could be described by a rotation of the set of axes. We are
all accustomed to a rotation of our ordinary cartesian set of axes
describing the position of a point. We ordinarily choose our axes at
any location on the earth as follows: one vertical, one east and west,
one north and south. So if we move from any one laboratory to another,
we change our axes; they are always orthogonal, but in moving from
place to place there is a rotation. Similarly, Minkowski showed that
if we choose four orthogonal axes at any point on the earth, according
to his method, to represent a space-time point using the method of
measuring space and time intervals as outlined by Einstein; and, if
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