Month: September 2022

THE ETHER. “What is space made of? This is a question that has puzzled mankind for thousands of years. Before Einstein put forward special relativity, it was generally believed that space is filled with aether.” https://lnkd.in/dATr5iE7 View in LinkedIn

HISTORICAL VIEWS. “Huygens and Hooke regarded aether as a medium, where light propagates in the form of wave. Newton believed that aether was the carrier of force, and used it to introduce the concept of absolute space and time.” https://lnkd.in/dATr5iE7 View in LinkedIn

EVOLVING VIEWS. “Maxwell, Lorenz and others further developed the concept of aether, but still used Newton's absolute space and time.” https://lnkd.in/dATr5iE7 View in LinkedIn

NOT REQUIRED. “Einstein's special relativity does not require aether and removes the centrality of Newton's absolute space and time. Later, Minkowski introduced the concept of four-dimensional space-time into special relativity.” https://lnkd.in/dATr5iE7 View in LinkedIn

REDEFINED ETHER. “It may be said that the notion of four-dimensional space-time replaces that of aether. Einstein's general relativity further develops the idea of four-dimensional space-time, and provides the relation between the energy-momentum tensor of matter and the Riemannian structure of space-time.” https://lnkd.in/dATr5iE7 View in LinkedIn

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. “Although the theory of relativity no longer needs the aether, Einstein surprisingly defended it. After the establishment of general relativity, Einstein systematically discussed the relationship between aether and theory of relativity, and gave arguments supporting the idea that aether must be retained.” https://lnkd.in/dATr5iE7 View in LinkedIn

LOST IN THE SHUFFLE. “Einstein's view was supported by Lorentz and Eddington, but did not attract widespread attention.” https://lnkd.in/dATr5iE7 View in LinkedIn

FLUCTUATING FIELDS. “Later, with the development of quantum mechanics, the picture changed and the seemingly empty space is actually thought as full of all kinds of fluctuation fields.” https://lnkd.in/dATr5iE7 View in LinkedIn

QUANTUM FIELD. “As long as enough energy is provided, physical particles can be excited out of space and, in turn, the concepts of quantum field and vacuum energy have been put forward.” https://lnkd.in/dATr5iE7 View in LinkedIn

THE JOURNEY MATTERS. “In trying to put together observations, hypotheses, and full-fledged theories, I could often see the trees but not the forest. I did not try to erase the footprints of my beating around the bush, because I believe the search is no less instructive than its eventual results, especially when the undertaking is still underway.” (By the late Professor Marcelo Dascal, at Tel Aviv University). https://lnkd.in/dKNrQwQw View in LinkedIn