If we compare the LORENTZ TRANSFORMATIONS with the
GALILEAN TRANSFORMATIONS, several striking qualitative features
are apparent: the first is the multiplicative factor
which
describes both TIME DILATION and LORENTZ CONTRACTION;
the second is the fact that time and space
get mixed together by the LORENTZ TRANSFORMATION -
a blasphemy in the paradigm of classical Physics.
The latter weirdness is going to be confusing no matter what we do; is there any way to at least make it look familiar? What we need is an analogy with something that does ``make sense'' and is still intact. Fortunately there is a precedent for a transformation that mixes coordinates, namely the ROTATION.