What is the History of Aether Theories and their Mathematical Basis?

In summary, the conversation discusses the topic of aether theories from a historical perspective and the interest in its mathematical basis. The participants mention various sources such as books by Whittaker and Heilbron, as well as Andrew Warwick's "Masters of Theory" which provides insight into the education and culture of mathematical physics at Cambridge. The discussion also touches on the debate between corpuscular and wave theories of light and mentions Euler and Newton's contributions to aether theories. Some participants suggest additional sources, including the book "Theories of Light: From Descartes to Newton" by Sabra.
  • #1
Mandy
4
0
Heya, I am writing a paper at the moment on aether theories from an historical perspective. I am mostly interested in the mathematical basis of aether theories starting from when Maxwell unified electric and magnetic fields.

What I would like to know is if anybody has any idea where to start, or how to go about this topic. It seems like everybody (rightly) laughs in the face of aether theories, and forgets where they actually come from.

Note: This paper is for an assignment in EM class (honours level) so it has to be pretty impressive!

Opinions? Question? Comments? Insane laughter?
 
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  • #3
Thanking you for your contributions.

I have read a copy of Whittaker, and also a book by Heilbron on 17th and 18th century electricity. I am wondering if there is anywhere other than these two books that deals with aether theories in a serious way.
 
  • #4
Aether theories have a hard time getting published. Most journal editors consider them about as interesting as flat Earth theories.
 
  • #5
This is sort of from a different view, with no 'new' theory being investigated. I guess I was just hoping to get more ideas of where to search.
 
  • #6
Have you read Andrew Warwick's "Masters of theory"?
It isn't as such a history of aether theory, but a study of the evolution of the education&culture in mathematical physics at Cambridge.

The latter parts, however, dealing with Maxwell and later on, the Cambridge mathematicians' reception of relativity is, at least, relevant historical background material.
Here's a review of it in "american scientist":
http://www.americanscientist.org/te...etail/assetid/32663;jsessionid=aaa9GcNQuZWZ5b
 
  • #7
There was an old book called "Theories of Light, from Fermat to (who? can't recall)" . It was mostly a very careful treatment of Fermat's ideas of light and how he proved Snell's law of refraction. Of course the original "ether theory" was Huygen's, if you except the late Aritotelians' "propagation of species". It's important to recall that Newton criticised Hygen's theory, which he conceived to be based on longitudinal vibrations, as being unable to acount for the double refraction from crystals of Iceland Spar. This is the same argument, modulo only the decimal places of accuracy, that is made today to assert the masslessness of the photon.

Euler was also an etherist, although almost all other thinkers of the eighteenth century were corpusculists, following (as they thought) Newton. Newton himself notoriously thought that light was carried by corpuscles which "had fits" af wave behavior. Some enthusiasts have interpreted this as showing he had a wave-particle duality in mind. That's over the top, but he really was more subtle than most of the thinkers of that time.
 
  • #8
selfAdjoint said:
There was an old book called "Theories of Light, from Fermat to (who? can't recall)" .
Is that "Theories of Light: From Descartes to Newton" by Sabra?
 
  • #9
Thanks, I'll have a look at that one... we actually have it in our library...
 

1. What is the history of Aether theories?

The history of Aether theories dates back to ancient Greece, where philosophers proposed that the material universe was made up of a substance called Aether. This concept continued to evolve over time, with scientists such as Aristotle, Descartes, and Newton all proposing their own theories about the nature of Aether. However, with the development of modern physics, the idea of Aether was gradually abandoned in favor of other explanations for the nature of the universe.

2. How did the concept of Aether change over time?

As scientific knowledge and understanding advanced, so did the concept of Aether. In ancient Greece, Aether was thought to be a fifth element, different from the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. During the Renaissance, Aether was believed to be a medium that filled the space between planets and stars. In the 19th century, Aether was proposed as a substance that could explain the wave-like behavior of light. However, with the advent of modern physics, Aether theories were gradually replaced by theories such as relativity and quantum mechanics.

3. What was the role of Aether in the development of modern physics?

Aether played a significant role in the development of modern physics, as it was often used to explain phenomena such as the propagation of light and the behavior of electromagnetic waves. However, as scientific knowledge and technology advanced, it became clear that Aether was not a necessary concept to explain these phenomena. The theories of relativity and quantum mechanics provided more accurate and comprehensive explanations without the need for Aether.

4. What are some famous Aether theories?

Some famous Aether theories include Aristotle's theory of Aether as a fifth element, Descartes' theory of Aether as the medium of the universe, and Maxwell's theory of Aether as the medium for the propagation of light. Additionally, the Michelson-Morley experiment, which attempted to detect the movement of Earth through the Aether, is also a significant part of the history of Aether theories.

5. Why was the concept of Aether eventually abandoned?

The concept of Aether was eventually abandoned due to the development of modern physics, which provided more accurate and comprehensive explanations for the behavior of the universe. The theories of relativity and quantum mechanics showed that the properties of space and time could be explained without the need for a medium like Aether. Additionally, the failure of experiments such as the Michelson-Morley experiment to detect Aether further weakened the support for the concept.

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