Luminiferous aether

“ What is required to experimentally distinguish from , can be shown by a proposal which recently was made by W. Wien "for the decision of the question, as to whether the luminiferous aether is moving with Earth or not." ”

“ It is certainly curious that the astronomical phænomenon of the aberration of light should afford an argument in support of the theory of transversal vibrations.
Undoubtedly it does violence to the ideas that we should have been likely to form à priori of the nature of the æther, to assert that it must be regarded as an elastic solid in treating of the vibrations of light. ”

“ In a horizontal optical circuit, at latitude α, the diurnal rotation of the Earth must, if the aether is motionless, produce a relative aether vortex whose density is or radian per second, where T is the duration of the sidereal day ”

“ In that paper I supposed that the æther close to the surface of the earth was at rest relatively to the earth; in fact, the very object of the paper was to get rid of the apparent necessity of supposing the æther to pass through the whole atmosphere and through the earth itself. It should be observed, however, that the phænomenon of aberration allows us to suppose that the æther passes through the atmosphere and through the earth with any velocity, either constant, or varying from point to point, provided only (a.) be an exact differential. ”

“ In a system collectively moving with respect to the aether, the propagation time between two arbitrary points of the system must be altered in the same way as it would be in a stationary system subjected to the action of an aether wind, whose relative velocity at each point of the system would be equal and directly opposed to the velocity of that point, and which would carry the light waves in the same manner as atmospheric wind carrying sound waves. ”

“ Of more weight is the circumstance that a train of radiation from a distant star would change its form as it advanced across space, that there would in fact be optical dispersion in the free aether if such second-order terms existed. ”

“ We will suppose that an undulatory movement is started by a luminous body at point A situated in the Aether, and surrounded by that medium. A may represent a part of any luminous body, as the sun or star, while B C and B' C' represent a segment of the aetherial envelopes already referred to, which exist around the sun. We will further suppose that the small dots surrounding the luminous body represent the aetherial atoms forming the envelope, which transmit the impulse or energy received from the atomic vibrations of the luminous body. ”

“ Each and every one, small or great, glittering or blazing, sun or planet, are ever creating or generating Aether-waves, and impressing them with all the [79] details and particulars of their nature and existence; and these Aether-waves ever bear upon their mystic wings the impressions received, carrying the information given with lightning speed to the very confines and limits of infinite space or the material universe; beyond which exists nothing but the ever-living and active energy of the Divine, the only unlimited, unbounded, and absolute infinitive. ”

“ We have already seen (Art. 69) that the same aetherial waves which give rise to heat, also give rise to light, and that the only physical difference between heat and light is, that the waves which cause the phenomena of heat are of slower period, and of greater length, than those which cause the phenomena of light. From the solar spectrum we learn that there are a third class of Aether waves, which are of more rapid vibration, and therefore shorter in length than either the aetherial heat waves or the aetherial light waves. ”

“ Instead of the solar system being a solitary system that moves through space subject to apparently no law, and moved by apparently no physical power, that system, through the influence and effect of the aetherial currents originated by that central body, will be linked to other parts of the universe, and will become a part of one harmonious whole, its physical connection being made manifest and plain in the self-same electro-magnetic Aether medium that forms the connecting medium between the satellites and planets, or the planets and the sun. ”

“ In Art. 98 we supposed the sun and planets to be stationary in the solar system, each planet being at its respective mean distance, from which it cannot move owing to the equality of the two forces. Now give to the central sun from whence the electro-magnetic Aether waves flow, a rotatory motion on its own axis, which it really possesses, as it rotates on its axis once in every twenty-six days nearly, and this will give to the Aether medium a circular or rotatory motion. ”

“ Are we therefore to suppose that the Divine Creator of all things possesses less wisdom than the creatures which He Himself hath made? Such an assumption would be a reflection not only on the wisdom of an All Wise Being, but would also be a reflection on our own ideas of philosophical reasoning.
Therefore the conclusion that we are compelled to come to, in relation to the millions of stars that exist in interstellar space, is that every star is the centre of a stellar system, and the centre of two aetherial motions due to the pressures and tensions of the electro-magnetic Aether ”

“ The sun, with its huge form, occupies the centre of the solar system, while Mercury has its mean distance about 36,000,000 miles away.
The solar fires are intensely burning, and every atom and every particle composing them are excited thereby into the most intense activity, and by their energy of motion create myriads upon myriads of waves in the surrounding Aether, which flow away on every side with the velocity of light. ”

“ From these facts it may be seen that the sun has a temperature far exceeding any temperature that can be produced on the earth by artificial means. All known elements would be transformed into a vaporous condition if brought close to the sun's surface. It may readily be seen, therefore, that the sun is constantly sending forth an incessant flood of radiant heat in all directions, and on every side into space. Now if heat be motion, and be primarily due to the vibratory motion of Aether, what must be the volume and the intensity of the aetherial waves, known as heat waves, generated by the sun? ”

“ It matters not whether it be in the atomic systems whose combinations comprise all material forms of life with which we are familiar, or whether it is in the systems of planets that revolve around their central sun, or whether it be in the constellations that fill the universe, wherever we find the Aether, there we find the conditions in that Aether which will produce all the results ordinarily produced by magnetism, or with which magnetism is associated, and it is to the application of these phenomena to our solar system that we will now turn our attention. ”

“ Strictly speaking, all light is invisible, as we cannot see light itself, we can only see it by reflection. We have seen that light is due to a wave motion in the Aether, but we cannot see that wave motion, neither can we see the Aether itself, so that it is not strictly correct to call a ray visible or invisible. We have, however, accepted the terms in relation to the rays of the spectrum, to distinguish between the invisible or obscure rays of the spectrum and the visible rays. ”

“ As we have established, logically, the identity that exists between Aether and electricity, the question arises now as to whether they are not one and the same medium. If they are not one and the same medium, then we are in the distinctly unphilosophical position of having to admit that all interplanetary and interstellar space are filled at one and the same time by two different media, and such an assumption is directly opposed to all observation and experience. ”

“ The burning sun, the glowing star, the flying meteor, the glowing comet, the earth, our own island home, the towering rock, the wide ocean, the running river, the green trees of the forest, the tiny insect, the lordly elephant, all animals, plants, and our own physical body, all are composed of matter, either in solid, liquid or gaseous form. Therefore when we affirm that Aether is matter, the affirmation is strictly in accordance with the elementary principles of Philosophy, and in no way violates their rules or laws. ”

“ It must be remembered that we are no longer dealing with a frictionless medium, but with a medium which possesses inertia and kinetic energy the same as any other moving matter. Therefore, as soon as it is set in motion, it will impress its motions upon all planets that come under its control and influence, with the result that as the impressed force is ever directed in a circular form, the planet will be pushed along through space by the moving Aether, and the path it describes will be circular also. ”

“ It is clear at once that if it be not permitted to identify a point in the æther by the energy localized at it, no other means of identification can be substituted. All optical phenomena prove that the æther (outside material bodies) is perfectly homogeneous, so far as the power to contain energy is concerned; the velocity of radiation is rectilinear and uniform in whatever direction it is propagated. All portions of the æther which contain the same amount of energy are, so far as experiment can tell, perfectly similar, and there is no possible means of distinguishing between them ”

“ In fact, the want of any definite ideas as to the properties of the luminous æther and its relations to ponderable matter, has rendered it necessary to form hypotheses, and among those which have been proposed there are some which are more or less probable, but none which can be considered as proved. ”

“ The motion of a planet in its orbit can be so perfectly [29] calculated, that its position in space in relation to other planets can be foretold years in advance. The theory of the Aether, therefore, which is to be perfected in this work, must philosophically show that the pressures or tensions of that medium, which are postulated as the cause of Gravitation Attraction, must themselves fulfil the laws of inverse squares, which govern light, heat, electricity and the Attraction of Gravitation. ”

“ What a storm of fury and of motion must there be within the aetherial atmosphere around the sun, and with what volume and power must these light waves speed away from so mighty a source! Some idea may be gained from the fact that they speed away to the distant Neptune, a distance of nearly three thousand millions of miles, and impart to that planet the energy of light and heat which to the planet forms the physical source of all its life and activities. Thus from the sun, the centre of the solar system, there are ever being poured forth into space these aetherial light waves. ”

“ It is precisely so with these Aether-waves, when once generated and set in motion. They create others, the process being continued and perpetuated; and, unless arrested in their course, may continue until they reach the very limits and confines of material immensity and space. ”

“ Thus an atom of oxygen would have a larger or denser aetherial atmosphere than an atom of hydrogen, exactly proportionate to their respective masses. A planet whose mass was represented by 1,000,000 tons would have twice the quantity of Aether around it, compared to a planet weighing only 500,000 tons, and so on, the aetherial atmosphere always being proportionate to the mass of the planet, or the satellite, or the sun, or the star. ”

“ Having established, therefore, the identity of heat, light and electricity, and having proved that they are all due to the periodic wave motions or vibrations of the universal Aether, it must follow as a matter of necessity that wherever in interplanetary or interstellar space we find light or heat waves we must also find electricity. ”

“ Therefore, the only solution is, that the rotating atmosphere imparts some of its motion to the aetherial atmosphere, which in its turn rotates, and that that rotation is governed by exactly the same conditions as govern the relation that exists between the earth and the atmosphere. Therefore the Aether in space associated with each planet or satellite or sun or star, rotates with the rotating body, and that rotation imparts to the Aether a greater bulging out in the equatorial regions of the aetherial atmosphere than in any other part thereof. ”