In essence what relativity says is that space and time are not absolute, but relative to both the observer and to the thing being observed, and the faster one moves the more pronounced these effects become. We can never accelerate ourselves to the speed of light, and the harder we try (and faster we go) the more distorted we will become, relative to an outside observer. -- Bill Bryson, 2003

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity. --Albert Einstein

In A Nutshell: Time and space are not fixed quantities, but appear different to people moving at different speeds. Also, there is no real difference between acceleration and gravity.

In The Lab

Relativity and the Simultaneity of Events - a brief video explanation of Relativity.

Relativity in Five Minutes - a slightly more in depth look at Relativity.

Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity - In Words of Four Letters or Less.

In The World

The Theory of Relativity in Finnegans Wake - Part of “The Joyce of Science,” a review of how Joyce used principles from relativity in his literary masterpiece.

Cultural Relativitism - a discussion of the subject in Wikipedia.

Of Headhunters and Soldiers: Separating Cultural and Ethical Relativism - an essay by Renato Rosaldo for the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. 

Meta-Meaning in Context: The Military Application of Sociolinguistic Anthropology to Operations in the Arabic Speaking World - an article offered by the U.S. Defense Technical Information Center.

Characteristics of Culture - An article on human culture prepared by Dr. Dennis O'Neil, Behavioral Sciences Department, Palomar College, San Marcos, California.

© Dave Higgins