Twelve myths about Theory of Relativity we must overcome

• Autor(a) principal: Capiberibe Nunes, Ricardo
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Pereira de Queirós, Wellington
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Caderno Brasileiro de Ensino de Física (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/fisica/article/view/2175-7941.2020v37n2p531

On May 29, the centenary of the 1919 eclipse is celebrated, which would have “proved” (or confirmed) the General Theory of Relativity “created” by Albert Einstein in 1915. This very common phrase presents several conceptual problems, among them the idea of what theories can be proved and which have creators; and that the eclipse data was sufficient to confirm General Relativity. After a hundred years of the eclipse, there are still many myths surrounding the Theory of Relativity and the figure of Albert Einstein. In this article we present five myths about the theory of special relativity, three myths about general relativity and four myths about Einstein, which are constant in textbooks, specialized books, newspapers and works of popularization of science. To deconstruct each myth, we make a historical and conceptual presentation, which reflects a rigorous examination of research in primary and secondary literature. The objective of the work is not to minimize Einstein's contribution to relativity, but to deconstruct the myth produced over the scientist Albert Einstein and present the historical Einstein and his scientific positions, as well as discuss how the construction of the theory of relativity and its consequences occurred, as the Black Holes and Gravitational Waves program. We also showed that Relativity was not the only consistent theory and did not solve all the known problems of its time, just as its acceptance was not immediate, nor was it due to any crucial experiment (experimentum crucis).