Aether was needed for several reasons: (1) Philosophically it has always been difficult to define absolute and total nothingness. Aristotle rejected the notion; in his worldview there was no void or vacuum. Descartes considered “it contrary to reason to say that there is a vacuum or space in which there is absolutely nothing.” [5] (2) During the Scientific age there arose the demand for a suitable medium for the propagation of light. In this capacity it was called the luminiferous aether. Isaac Newton, Christian Huygens, and Thomas Young were the early developers of this idea. (3) With Faraday’s discovery of lines of electrical and magnetic force the need for some conducting medium was glaringly obvious. (Remember those lines of force magically revealed by a sprinkling of iron filings?) Faraday’s abstract field concept could be more meaningful if there was some appropriate medium to fill it. (4) Then, with Clerk Maxwell’s electric and magnetic wave theory there again was a need for a propagating medium. A more inclusive luminiferous aether was called for. Aether was enlisted to serve for the propagation needs of all electromagnetic waves. from cellular universes history of aether
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 23:40:29 +0000
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