c is the speed of light, isn't it?

Theories for a varying speed of light have been proposed as an alternative way of solving several standard cosmological problems. Recent observational hints that the fine structure constant may have varied over cosmological scales have given impetus to these theories. However, the speed of light is hidden in many physics equations and plays different roles in them. We discuss these roles to shed light on proposals for varying speed of light theories. We also emphasize the requirements for attaining consistency of the resulting equations, when what was previously a constant is made a dynamical variable. (C) 2005 American Association of Physics Teachers.