Teacher's Discomfort with the Theory of Relativity

Abstract

This essay critically examines how a theory often perceived as incomprehensible can nevertheless develop into a foundation of scientific practice with immense popularity. It first analyzes several unresolved problems of understanding from school curricula before suggesting a path to clarification that has not yet been explored in science studies.

Imagine you, as a schoolteacher, are tasked with preparing a lecture on Einstein's theory of relativity. Naturally, you have no laboratory or suitable experimental equipment at your disposal, nor a scientific library, but at best a few textbooks and the local antiquarian bookshop with its selection of inexpensive old physics books. Furthermore, you still vividly recall numerous post-lesson conversations on the train ride home, such as discussions with an electrical engineer from Mercedes-Benz and an equally critical architect from the Stuttgart Regional Council, which can certainly put a physics teacher's pedagogical skills to the test.

Especially when you're aware that, according to Austrian textbook author Roman Sexl, there are only twelve people in the world who understand Einstein's theory of relativity. Imagine that!