A friendly debate between the authors characterizes one that is prevalent among the community of ‘dissident’ physicists who do not accept Einstein’s relativity as the final explanation for the behavior of light. They wonder whether or not light acquires the velocity of its source. Maxwell’s equations strongly suggest a fixed speed for light upon its emission from a source. Is the emission point fixed in space? Would motion of the emitter alter the trajectory (and speed?) of the emitted light? Light’s immense speed makes determining this extremely difficult to answer on a scale less than astronomical. For example, despite supposed ‘definitive’ proof that there is no aether and light speed is universally constant alleged by proponents of a ‘null’ result from the 1887 Michelson-Morley Interferometer Experiment, debate continues over both of these subjects. The authors propose experiments using current technology that might be able to offer a definitive resolution to this debate, or possibly open up even more speculation.
