Abstract

The theory of special relativity is developed with two stipulations that any propagating electromagnetic wave travels at the same constant speed c, with respect to all inertial reference frames irrespective of their relative velocities and any IRF shall synchronize its spatially separated clocks by the assumption or convention that the one way speed of light within that IRF is constant and equal to c in all directions. The mathematical development of these concepts lead us to the principle of the relativity of simultaneity, the space-time continuum and the block universe that implies the existence of past, present, and future in a four-dimensional space-time continuum. The principle of relativity of simultaneity essentially means that the tenses, past, present, and future, are an illusion. Time order of events are subjective and thus all events in the universe exist together on the continuum. We show that the characteristics of light propagation are the same whether we use the Lorentz Transformation (LT) or the Galilean Transformation (GT) in the sense that the amplitude of the propagating wave at any space-time location remains the same in both the transformations. We argue that the space and time coordinates assigned to any space-time point are different in LT and GT but the identity of a space-time point is not compromised. The different numbers of space and time coordinates assigned to a space-time point by LT and GT arise out of calibration differences and do not indicate any altered reality.