Re: why lorentz transformation?

francisco wrote:
> galileo's principle of relativity states that the laws of mechanics should
> be the same for all inertial observers. and indeed, newtonian mechanics is
> unchanged under galilean transformations. the problem is that maxwellian
> electrodynamics is not the same in every inertial frame under that
> transformation. so what to do? find a set of transformations under which
> both mechanics and electrodynamics are the same for all inertial frames.
> this leads to the lorentz transformation.

I am not aware that Maxwell's equations are in any way used to derive
the Lorentz transformation. The latter is solely obtained from the
attempt to reconcile the Galilei transformation with the invariance of
the speed of light (see for instance Einstein's own derivation at
http://www.bartleby.com/173/a1.html (by the way, I am discussing
obvious mathematical inconsistencies in this derivation under the
thread
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/sci.physics.relativity/browse_frm/thread/0e2ee5c7354a7371/7677231a92664dca?hl=en#7677231a92664dca
)).

Thomas

.

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