>Einstein used train analogies to get across the concepts of moving
>frames of reference. Obviously everybody in big cities used trains and
>could follow the analogies. Visually these effects are pretty stunning
>and are still used as special effects in action adventure flicks.
I'm sure you've seen Magritte's Time Transfixed: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In explaining Time Transfixed, Magritte said: "I decided to paint the image of a locomotive . . . In order for its mystery to be evoked, another immediately familiar image without mystery the image of a dining room fireplace was joined." It is in the surprising juxtaposition and scale shift of these common and unrelated images that their mystery and magic arises. The artist transformed the pipe of a coal-burning stove into a charging locomotive, situating the train in a fireplace vent so that it appears to be emerging from a railway tunnel. The tiny engine races out into the stillness of a sparsely furnished dining room, its smoke neatly floating up the chimney, suggesting in turn the smoke of coal in the stove.
http://www.artic.edu/artaccess/AA_Modern/pages/MOD_6.shtml