The Legacy of E = mc2
It's difficult to separate the enormous legacy of E = mc2 from Einstein's legacy as a whole. After all, the equation grew directly out of Einstein's work on special relativity, which is a subset of what most consider his greatest achievement, the theory of general relativity. But Peter Tyson gave it a try anyway.
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"Einstein's Big Idea" - See a dramatization of the remarkable story behind Albert Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2. Einstein grappled with the implications of his revolutionary special theory of relativity and came to the startling conclusion that mass and energy are one.
Ancestors of E = mc2
Historian David Bodanis subtitled his best seller "E = mc2," "A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation." Like most biographies, it includes stories of its subject's ancestors—in this case, innovative thinkers whose groundbreaking experiments shaped Einstein's understanding of mass, energy, and light. Their pioneering efforts helped make Einstein's great epiphany possible. With Bodanis's permission, we've adapted excerpts of "E = mc2" to assemble snapshots of these ancestors.
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