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Einstein's postulates <==> Minkowski space. (In layman's terms)
In the spirit of Einstein's arguments using flashes of light, moving trains and mirrors; what is the best way to go between Einstein's postulates [1] of
- Relativity: Physical laws are the same in all inertial reference frames.
- Constant speed of light: "... light is always propagated in empty space with a definite speed $c$ which is independent of the state of motion of the emitting body."
to Minkowski's idea [2] that space and time are united into a 4D spacetime with the Lorentzian signature.
The argument can only use simple mathematics (algebra, geometry, a little calculus). I want an argument that a smart high school graduate would be able to understand. None of the group theory and coset/homogeneous spaces of Marek's answer to my previous question. (Although, if you do have a little knowledge of Lie algebras, you should go read Marek's answer and references now!).
