When astronomers gaze out to the heavens these days, they see planets, stars and other celestial bodies. They understand how they move in relation to one another and the space they are in. This is due to the works of Albert Einstein nearly a century ago. Before then they were limited to understanding the universe based on the predictions, observations and calculations of mainly Isaac Newton. They were the backbone of classical physics, defining the world using the simplest of calculations. Newton"s calculations were made using the primitive devices available in the seventeenth century. As technology advanced through the ages, problems became apparent with the simple calculations, and formulae of Newton. They allowed for holes in the way they described nature. These holes did not allow for the true nature of light, time and space. Nor did they explain certain phenomena encountered in the Michelson-Morley experiment. This led to the development of Einstein"s theories of Special, then General Relativity, which redefined the world, and abolished many required aspects of classical physics.

             Classical physics was based on assumptions that the world can be defined with absolute constants. One such assumption was of the ether. The ether, proposed by Newton, was a connecting medium for light to travel and for forces of attraction between bodies in space to be conducted (Guggenheimer 33). Newton suggested this to make up for the phenomenon that his formulae would not allow for. From the beginning there were inherent flaws with ether theory. One problem is that its criteria do not fit together. Ether theory contradicts its self, it must be absolutely rigid, absolutely elastic, and it must also must be absolutely soft because all matter moves through it with out losing velocity (Yilmaz 9). .

             Another assumption was that Absolute or Universal Time exists. Stephen Hawking, who has the same post at Cambridge University once held by Newton, states that, "Absolute or Universal time [is the time] that all clocks would measure" (70).