I understand it’s “energy equals mass times the speed of light squared”, but it’s always portrayed as the most significant equation.
Is this just because Einstein was a popular figure, or is it particularly important in understanding the universe? Moreso than other equations?
In: Physics
Before this, the ideas were murky in physics about the relationship between matter and energy. They were seen as different things. This basically demonstrated that all things are energy. Then it puts down the conversion between the two in a way that explains nuclear fusion, fission, and radioactivity.
In real world ways it explained radioactivity. It also explained why Mercury’s orbit didn’t act in Newtonian physics ways, leading to a fundamentally different understanding of the universe.
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