The development of electromagnetism in the 1800s revealed a conflict between Maxwell's equations and Newton's mechanics: Maxwell's equations predicted a special velocity (the speed of light), while Newtonian mechanics allowed all velocities to be equivalent, leading physicists to struggle for decades with reconciling this inconsistency.
factualpending
Speaker
Sean CarrollEvidence Quote
“Maxwell's equations predicted a special velocity... How can it possibly be the case that everyone measures the same speed for light even if they're moving with respect to each other? So for a long time, for decades, people physicists bashed their heads against this problem.”
Created: 8/11/2026, 7:47:10 AM
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