  We elucidate how different theoretical assumptions bring about radically
different interpretations of the same experimental result. We do this by
analyzing special relativity as it was originally formulated. Then, we examine
the relationship of the theory with the result of the Michelson and Morley
experiment. We point out that in diverse a historical context the same
experiment can be thought of as providing different conceptualizations of
phenomena. This demonstrates why special relativity prevailed over its rival
theories. This theory made a new reinterpretation of the experiment by
associating it with a novel phenomenon, namely, the invariance of the speed of
light, a phenomenon that was not the one originally investigated. This leads us
to an understanding of how this experiment could have been interpreted in a
completely different historical context.
