The Process of Peer Review at AJP

Eugene Shubert

To: The American Journal of Physics
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 5:21 AM
Subject: The Most Entertaining Exploit in the History of Physics
Attachment: <special.pdf>

Dear Jan Tobochnik, Editor,

In September 2004 I submitted a paper in pdf for publication in the AJP and did not receive any sort of reply about it. If my very instructive approach to Special Relativity has been judged as too impossible to be true, then I would dearly love an honest referee report or rejection notice from AJP stating that my paper has been rejected on the grounds of it not being technically correct.

Sincerely,

Eugene Shubert

From: AJP
To: E. Shubert
Cc: henson
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 7:40 AM
Subject: ms 18305

Dear Eugene Shubert,

We have received your manuscript entitled, "The Time Structure of Special Relativity," which we have assigned the manuscript # 18305. This number should be used in all correspondence.

Please do not send any revisions before receiving further correspondence from us. Revisions sent in the middle of the review process will delay the review process.

Thank you for your submission to AJP.

Sincerely yours,

Jennifer Perry

AMERICAN JOURNAL of PHYSICS
Jan Tobochnik, Editor
Harvey Gould, Associate Editor
Martin Ligare, Assistant Editor
Jennifer Perry, Assistant to the Editor
www.kzoo.edu/ajp/
Online Journal aapt.org/ajp
269-337-5802
Kalamazoo College
1200 Academy St.
Kalamazoo, MI 49006

From: AJP
To: E. Shubert
Cc: henson
Sent: Monday, November 22, 2004 12:29 PM
Subject: ms 18305

Dear Eugene Shubert,

I have read your manuscript " The Time Structure of Special
Relativity," our number 18305, and determined that it did not provide
any particular insight into special relativity, assuming that it is
even correct. In addition, it makes no reference to the vast literature
written on this topic. So much is available on special relativity that
we can only consider manuscripts that provide significant new insight
and not just another derivation.

Sincerely,

Jan Tobochnik
AMERICAN JOURNAL of PHYSICS
Jan Tobochnik, Editor
Harvey Gould, Associate Editor
Martin Ligare, Assistant Editor
Jennifer Perry, Assistant to the Editor
www.kzoo.edu/ajp/
Online Journal aapt.org/ajp
269-337-5802
Kalamazoo College
1200 Academy St.
Kalamazoo, MI 49006

From: Eugene Shubert
To: AJP
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2004 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: ms 18305

Dear Jan Tobochnik,

It strikes me that if something is widely regarded as impossible but is nevertheless true, then there must be some new insight in there somewhere.

If it would make any difference to you, I could easily cite the google archives where several physicists and many physics students at sci.physics.relativity have said that my derivation of the Lorentz transformation from the Galilean transformation is impossible. I agree with you that there is nothing remarkable in my approach. You are right about my derivation of the Lorentz transformation being too elementary for the AJP.

In the interest of educating the physicists and physics students who obviously do not read the AJP, how about an endorsement to the effect that my paper is legitimate enough for the physics.ed-ph section of arXiv? In the interest of academic freedom, do you think that my paper is good enough to be accepted there?

Thank you for reading my paper.

Sincerely,

Eugene Shubert

From: AJP
To: E. Shubert
Cc: henson
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 12:28 PM
Subject: ms 18305

Dear Eugene Shubert,

I cannot make any endorsements. It is up to you to put your paper on
the archive.

Sincerely,

Jan Tobochnik

AMERICAN JOURNAL of PHYSICS
Jan Tobochnik, Editor
Harvey Gould, Associate Editor
Martin Ligare, Assistant Editor
Jennifer Perry, Assistant to the Editor
www.kzoo.edu/ajp/
Online Journal aapt.org/ajp
269-337-5802
Kalamazoo College
1200 Academy St.
Kalamazoo, MI 49006

From: Eugene Shubert
To: AJP
Cc: henson
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 1:12 PM
Subject: ms 18305

Dear Jan Tobochnik,

I updated my current abstract to say that you do not consider extracting a Lorentzian transformation from the Galilean transformation remarkable at all. Is that an accurate statement?

http://www.everythingimportant.org/relativity/special.pdf

Eugene Shubert

From: AJP
To: E. Shubert
Cc: henson
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 9:34 AM
Subject: ms 18305

Dear Prof. Shubert,

Professor Tobochnik does not engage in conversation with authors, and
he will not reply to any further messages from you on this paper.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Perry

AMERICAN JOURNAL of PHYSICS
Jan Tobochnik, Editor
Harvey Gould, Associate Editor
Martin Ligare, Assistant Editor
Jennifer Perry, Assistant to the Editor
www.kzoo.edu/ajp/
Online Journal aapt.org/ajp
269-337-5802
Kalamazoo College
1200 Academy St.
Kalamazoo, MI 49006

Prof. Shubert
Cc: www.everythingimportant.org