ÆTHER THEORIES
in the Long Nineteenth Century.
Most material in Net Advance Retro
antedates 1920. It may be obsolete or incorrect.
- General: HISTORY:
- General:
-
Examination of the Theory of a Resisting Medium, in which it is assumed that
the Planets and Comets of our System are moved
by Roswell Willson Haskins
[American Journal of Science 33, 1 (1838)]
-
Notes on the Principles of Pure and Applied Calculation ;
and Applications of Mathematical Principles to Theories
of the Physical Forces
by Rev. James Challis
[Cambridge: Deighton and Bell, 1869]
-
An Essay on the Mathematical Principles of Physics
by Rev. James Challis
[Cambridge: Deighton and Bell, 1873]
-
Remarks on the Cambridge Mathematical Studies, and their Relation to
Modern Physical Science
by Rev. James Challis
[Cambridge: Deighton and Bell, 1875]
-
Physik des Aethers auf elektromagnetischer Grundlage
by Paul Drude
[Stuttgart: Enke, 1894]
-
The Recent Development of Physical Science
by W. C. D. Whetham
[Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1904]
-
The Principle of Relativity
by Ebenezer Cunningham
[Cambridge, 1914]
An advanced text of remarkable sophistication,
especially for one of the first book-length accounts
of special relativity in English.
Cunningham is both a scientific conservative and
a defender of Einstein. He
points out that not every form of æther
is ruled out by relativity but only the "unnecessarily
restricted rigid" one of the later Victorians; he makes
an early attempt at relativistic thermodynamics; he
discusses the vexing question of defining probability in
Minkowski's spacetime.
-
Relativity and the Electron Theory
by Ebenezer Cunningham
[London: Longmans, Green, 1915]
Following up on his Principle of Relativity,
Cunningham continues his attempt to describe special
relativity as a theory of æther.
-
Sidelights on Relativity
by Albert Einstein
[London: Methuen, 1922]
- Aspects:
ELECTROMAGNETISM;
SPECIAL RELATIVITY;