- #1
Pythagorean
Gold Member
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- 313
The skepticism thread reminded me of a question I had for the professionals here.
A lot of Electrodynamics (especially the idea of displacement current) was developed by Maxwell with the idea of Ether in mind.
I'm not trying to argue that the ether-as-we-know-it actually exists, but the whole idea behind it is that space has properties. It seems almost like political fear (in the form of skepticism) prevents knowledgeable people from further exploring this idea because they don't want to be labeled crackpots.
When we brought this up to our teacher, he wouldn't comment on it one way or the other. What do you guys think?
specifically:
a) why do Maxwell's equations still work if they were formulated with an ether in mind, yet there's no ether
b) does space have properties?
c) Could something like the ether (but a new beast) exist as a property of space?
A lot of Electrodynamics (especially the idea of displacement current) was developed by Maxwell with the idea of Ether in mind.
I'm not trying to argue that the ether-as-we-know-it actually exists, but the whole idea behind it is that space has properties. It seems almost like political fear (in the form of skepticism) prevents knowledgeable people from further exploring this idea because they don't want to be labeled crackpots.
When we brought this up to our teacher, he wouldn't comment on it one way or the other. What do you guys think?
specifically:
a) why do Maxwell's equations still work if they were formulated with an ether in mind, yet there's no ether
b) does space have properties?
c) Could something like the ether (but a new beast) exist as a property of space?