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Why is C the symbol for the speed of light? (2004)
[Physics FAQ] - [Copyright] By Philip Gibbs, 1997, 2004. "As for c, that is the speed of light in vacuum, and if you ask why c, the answer is that it is the initial letter of celeritas, the Latin word meaning speed." Isaac Asimov in "C for Celeritas (1959)" [1] Weber apparently meant c to stand for "constant" in his force law, but there is evidence that physicists such as Lorentz and Einstein were accustomed to a common convention that c could be used as a variable for velocity.
That was written in the United States, but the same notation was also found across Europe, from papers by Oliver Lodge [15] and Joseph Lamor [16] in England, to the lecture notes of Poincar� in France [17], and the textbooks of Paul Drude in Germany [18] and Lorentz in the Netherlands [19]. La lumi�re et les th�ories �lectrodynamiques" (1900)[18] P. Drude, "Physik des �thers auf elektromagnetischer Grundlage", Verlag F. Enke, Stuttgart (1894)[19] H. Lorentz, "Versuch einer Theorie der elektrischen und optischen Erscheinungen in bewegten K�rpern", Leiden (1895)[20] A. Einstein, from "The Collected Papers, Vol 5, The Swiss Years: Correspondence, 1902–1914", English Translation, Doc 58. Amsterdam I, pg 443 (1899)[42] A. Einstein, "The Collected Papers, Vol 5, The Swiss Years: Correspondence, 1902–1914", English Translation, Doc 86 (1907)[43] W. Voigt, "Ueber das Doppler'sche Princip", Goett.
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