Timeline of Physics
Ahkenaten 1550–1070B.C.
Akhenaten was an Egyptian ruler and polymath. Atum was an Egyptian deity associated with the process of creation. According to Egyptian cosmology, Atum emerged from the waters of chaos (Nun) and then created the world by self-generating. Ra, the sun god, played a central role in Egyptian religion. Ra was believed to travel across the sky during the day and through the underworld at night, symbolizing death and rebirth. This solar-centered cosmology influenced Egyptian models of the universe, with the sun often depicted as sailing across the sky in a solar barque during the day and at night being swallowed by Nut, the sky goddess, to be reborn in the morning. Celestial bodies like the sun, moon, and stars were often associated with minor gods and goddesses who maintained order and harmony in the universe. This was because occult cosmological concepts, in their veil of allegory, could only be understood by a select few who had attained the highest levels of priesthood, rendering the myths discernible. The significance of a mystery, despite its unintelligibility, is that the mind knows the truth at the core of belief despite what it believes being incomplete or shrouded in poetry. The subconscious will work toward the raw truth even if it does not understand it yet. This is the same reason Ra, as the sun god, represented cosmic order and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. This meant that they saw the sky and eternally cyclical order of constellations as foretelling of universal human destiny. Temple Architecture and Symbolism: Egyptian temples often reflected cosmological beliefs, with their layout and orientation aligned with celestial phenomena. Temples dedicated to Ra, for example, might be oriented towards the rising or setting sun, symbolizing the journey of Ra through the sky. The layout of temple complexes also often mirrored the Egyptian concept of the cosmos, with different areas representing various aspects of the universe.
“Known for his radical religious reforms. He introduced a new religion that worshiped the sun god Aten, which is often referred to as Atenism. Here is a summary of his beliefs:
Monotheism: Akhenaten believed in a single, all-powerful deity, Aten, who was the only god worthy of worship. This was a significant departure from the traditional Egyptian polytheism, which worshiped multiple gods and goddesses.
Aten as the sole god: Aten was considered the creator, sustainer, and ruler of the universe. Akhenaten believed that Aten was present in all things, including humans, and that he was the source of all life and energy.
Rejection of traditional gods: Akhenaten rejected the worship of traditional Egyptian gods, such as Amun, Isis, Osiris, Horus, and Thoth, and sought to eliminate their images and names from public life. Worship of Aten: Akhenaten’s worship of Aten was characterized by a focus on the sun disk and its rays, which were seen as a symbol of Aten’s power and life-giving energy. He often depicted Aten with outstretched arms, symbolizing the rays of the sun.
Personal connection with Aten: Akhenaten believed that he had a direct, personal connection with Aten, which gave him a sense of divine authority and inspiration.
New art and architecture: Akhenaten’s religious beliefs influenced the development of new art and architecture, characterized by a more naturalistic and simplified style, often featuring the sun disk and Aten’s rays.”
Democritus 450 B.C.
Often called the Father of modern science, or ‘the laughing philosopher’. A student of Leucippus, Democritus coined the term “atomos” (literally no-cut) to describe what he purported to be indivisible, discrete spheres comprising all matter. This is the first recognized form of scientific atomism, despite it possibly extending as far back as dynastic and even pre-dynastic Egyptian times in that area of the world. Atum-ra
Aristotle 385 B.C.-322 B.C. 350 B.C.
Classical astronomy followed principles established by Aristotle. Aristotle accepted the idea that there were four physical elements – earth, water, air, and fire. He put the earth in the center of the universe and contended that these elements were below the moon, which was the closest celestial body. There were seven planets, or wandering stars, because they had a course through the zodiac in addition to traveling around the earth: the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter. Beyond that were the fixed stars. The physical elements, according to Aristotle moved vertically, depending on their ‘heaviness’ or ‘gravity’; the celestial bodies were not physical but a ‘fifth element’ or ‘quintessence’ whose nature was to move in perfect circles around the earth, making a daily rotation. Aristotle envisioned the earth as the true center of all the circles or ‘orbs’ carrying the heavenly bodies around it and all motion as ‘uniform,’ that is, unchanging.
Aristarchus of Samos 230 B.C.
Greek astronomer and mathematician. Presented the first Heliocentric theory. Lived in Samos, Greece and died in Alexandria, Egypt. Believed the earth to rotate around its axis once a day. One of the first in recorded history to estimate the relative distances of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. Estimated the earth’s distance from the Sun as being around 20 times larger than its distance from the Moon. His work was not widely known until the 16th century when Copernicus rediscovered and popularized his ideas. His work faced initial criticism likely due to widely popularized geocentric theories at the time.
Claudius Ptolemy A.D. 85-A.D. 165 A.D. 115
Formed a geocentric theory that prevailed for 1400 years. Lived in Alexandria; rumored to have possibly been a citizen of Rome, though born from a greek family living in Egypt, where he spent most of his life. Main works such as the almagest survived, and their principles were not overthrown in the scientific world until the work of Copernicus.
Nicolaus Copernicus: 1473-1543 1503
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance-era polish poly-mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic clergyman (canon) who formulated a model of the universe which placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe. Priesthood observers realized that the heavenly bodies did not move as Aristotle postulated. The earth was not the true center of the orbits and the motion was not uniform. The most obvious problem was that the outer planets seemed to stop, move backwards in ‘retrograde’ motion for a while, and then continue forwards. By the second century, when Ptolemy compiled his Almagest (this common name of Ptolemy’s syntaxes was derived from its Arabic title), astronomers had developed the concept that the orbit moves in ‘epicycles’ around a ‘deferent,’ that is, they move like a flat heliacal coil around a circle around the earth. The earth was also off-center, on an ‘eccentric,’ as the heavenly bodies moved around a central point. Ptolemy added a point on a straight line opposite the eccentric, which is called the ‘equalizing point’ or the ‘equant,’ and around this point the heavenly bodies moved uniformly. Moreover, unlike the Aristotelian model, Ptolemy’s Almagest did not describe a unified universe. The ancient astronomers who followed Ptolemy, however, were not concerned if his system did not describe the ‘true’ motions of the heavenly bodies; their concern was to ‘save the phenomena,’ that is, give a close approximation of where the heavenly bodies would be at a given point in time. And in an age without professional astronomers, let alone the telescope, Ptolemy did a good job plotting the courses of the heavenly bodies. Not all Greek astronomical ideas followed this geocentric system. Pythagoreans suggested that the earth moved around a central fire (not the sun). Archimedes wrote that Aristarchus of Samos actually proposed that the earth rotated daily and revolved around the sun.[3]
Tycho Brahe 1546-1601 1576
Tycho Brahe was a Danish nobleman, astronomer, and writer known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical observations. He was born in the then Danish peninsula of Scania. Tycho was well known in his lifetime as an astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist. In Brahe’s model an immovable Earth is the centre of the universe, it is orbited around by the Moon and the Sun.
Galileo Galilei 1564-1642 1594
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de’ Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath, from Pisa. Galileo has been called the “father of observational astronomy”, the “father of modern physics”, the “father of the scientific method”, and the “father of modern science”. Discovered craters and mountains on the Moon. “That the Moon’s surface was not smooth and perfect as received wisdom had claimed but rough, with mountains and craters whose shadows changed with the position of the Sun” he also discovered the phases of Venus, Jupiter’s moons, the stars of the Milky Way, and created the first pendulum clock.
Johannes Kepler 1571-1630
Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. He is a key figure in the 17th-century scientific revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae.
René Descartes 1596-16501626
Known as Cartesian dualism (or mind–body dualism), his theory on the separation between the mind and the body went on to influence subsequent Western philosophies. In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes attempted to demonstrate the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and the body. A depiction of Rene Descartes’ vortices. In his theory, the entire universe was filled with elements of different sizes which shifted around each other. At the center is the sun, which is made up of the smallest kind of element and the bigger ones sift out and circle around it. We attribute a generic unity to the extension of the space [of a body], so that when the body which fills the space has been changed, the extension of the space itself is not considered to have been changed or transported but to remain one and the same; as long as it remains of the same size and shape and maintains the same situation among certain external bodies by means of which we specify that space.
Isaac Newton 1643-1727
Newton still used the aether to account for optical phenomena, and although he agreed with Huygens in the fact that light is a mechanical motion conveyed from a luminous body to the eye, he was a proponent for the corpuscular theory of light, which
Christiaan Huygens 1629-1695
Light is propagated in some other manner, an understanding of which we may obtain from our knowledge of the manner in which sound travels through air. “In the true philosophy one believes all natural phenomena to be mechanical effects.. We must admit this or else give up all hope of ever understanding anything in Physics”. Huygens also studied the phenomenon of double-refraction in Iceland spar crystal.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz 1646-1716
Natural theory of philosophy postulated monads; without parts, extension, or figure. Similar to the material points of Boscovich, but unlike Boscovich, Leibniz ascribed perception and appetition in addition to an equivalent of inertia, and viewed them as centers of exertion or diverging flux of a living force or vis viva. Did not subscribe to action at a distance. Argued against absolute space and time; Leibniz was a proponent for relational theory; that every thing exists only relationally to every other thing. He also argued that space exists prior to any matter that occupies it. Further that space is not independent of the matter which occupies it, but instead comprises everything in existence. Leibniz believed that the universe was a finite object in space to have begun in time.
Philosophy of Space and Time:
Proposed a relational view of space and time, arguing that space is not an absolute container (as Newton thought) but a system of relations between objects—a view influential in later physics and philosophy.
Monadology:
Developed the concept of monads, indivisible, immaterial units that make up reality, reflecting a metaphysical perspective on matter and force.
Calculus:
Co-invented calculus independently of Newton, providing powerful mathematical tools for physics.
Dynamics and Vis Viva:
Introduced the concept of vis viva (living force), an early form of kinetic energy, emphasizing conservation of energy in mechanical systems.
Critique of Newton’s Absolute Space:
Opposed Newton’s idea of absolute space and time, favoring a more dynamic and relational understanding that anticipated aspects of modern physics.
Roger Joseph Boscovich 1711-1787
Reckoned that matter is composed of “perfectly indivisible, non-extended discrete points”. Through experimentation he also supported Leibniz’s law of continuity. Defines material points as acting at a distance and influencing one another to behave as a whole in ponderable matter. Force-centered view of matter and space had a subtle connection to aether theories of his time, as he imagined continuous force fields rather than solid particles. His ideas foreshadowed field concepts crucial to both gravity and electromagnetism. Although he lived long before relativity, his philosophical and mathematical approach anticipated some modern ideas about space and interaction.
Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace 1749-1827
Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace was a French scholar and polymath whose work was important to the development of engineering, mathematics, statistics, physics, astronomy, and philosophy. He summarized and extended the work of his predecessors in his five-volume; Mécanique Céleste, which translated Newtonian physics into calculus.
Laplace Equation:
∇²φ = 0
A fundamental equation in potential theory, describing gravitational and electrostatic potentials in empty space.
Nebular Hypothesis:
Proposed that the solar system formed from a rotating cloud of gas and dust, an early model of planetary formation.
Laplace Transform:
A mathematical tool for solving differential equations (used widely in physics and engineering).
Worked entirely within Newtonian gravity and classical physics, long before Einstein’s relativity. His work provided the mathematical foundation for gravitational theory and influenced later scientists. Interestingly, Laplace once speculated about the finite speed of gravity, a notion that anticipated ideas in relativity but remained speculative until much later.
Architect of classical gravitational theory and celestial mechanics, bridging mathematics and physics in ways that shaped centuries of science.
Thomas Young 1773-1829
British polymath who made notable contributions to the fields of vision, light, solid mechanics, energy, physiology, language, musical harmony, and Egyptology. Famous for Young’s double slits; interference experiment, and for deciphering the rosetta stone. Young had first read Newton’s Opticks in 1790 at age 17, and had admired Newton’s work. By 1800 Young saw some problems with Newton’s corpuscular theory. For instance, he noticed that at interfaces such as that between air and water, some light is reflected and some is refracted, but the corpuscular theory can’t easily explain why that happens. The corpuscular theory also has trouble explaining why different colors of light are refracted to different degrees, Young noted. Sound was known to be a compression wave in air; Young thought light might be similar. He noticed that when two waves of sound cross, they interfere with each other, producing beats. While he didn’t immediately look for the optical equivalent of beats, he began to realize that light might exhibit interference phenomena as well. In May of 1801, while pondering some of Newton’s experiments, Young came up with the basic idea for the now-famous double-slit experiment to demonstrate the interference of light waves. The demonstration would provide solid evidence that light was a wave, not a particle. In the first version of the experiment, Young actually didn’t use two slits, but rather a single thin card. He covered a window with a piece of paper with a tiny hole in it. A thin beam of light passed through the hole. He held the card in the light beam, splitting the beam in two. Light passing on one side of the card interfered with light from the other side of the card to create fringes, which Young observed on the opposite wall. Young also used his data to calculate the wavelengths of different colors of light, coming very close to modern values. In November 1801 Young presented his paper, titled “On the theory of light and color” to the Royal Society. In that lecture, he described interference of light waves and the slit experiment. He also presented an analogy with sound waves and with water waves, and even developed a demonstration wave tank to show interference patterns in water. Despite Young’s convincing experiment, people didn’t want to believe Newton was wrong “Much as I venerate the name of Newton, I am not therefore obliged to believe that he was infallible,” Young wrote in response to one critic. Disappointed at the response to his research on light, Young decided to focus on medicine, though he was never very successful as a physician. He did do some further work in physics, and in 1807, Young published some of his lectures, including the double- slit version of the interference experiment.Augustin-Jean Fresnel 1788-1827 1818 French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light advanced by Thomas Young, excluding any remnant of Newton’s corpuscular theory, from the late 1830s until the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, the scientific community championed Isaac Newton’s corpuscular, or particle, theory of light. However, in 1802 Young showed that an interference pattern is produced when light from two sources overlaps, which could happen only if light was a wave. Fresnel initially did not know about Young’s experiment, but his experiments with various devices for producing interference fringes and diffraction convinced him that the wave theory of light was correct. As a starting point for his mathematical description of diffraction, Fresnel used Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens’s principle that every point on a wave front can be considered a secondary source of spherical wavelets. In a letter to Arago said that he could not see how to possibly account for stellar aberration on the basis of the wave theory if the Earth were assumed to completely drag the aether along with it, so that the velocity of the aether would be equal to the absolute velocity of the earth. Continued the work of Christiaan Huygens, and with it successfully overthrowing Newton’s corpuscular theories at the time.
Augustin-Louis Cauchy 1789-1857
In optics, Cauchy’s transmission equation is an empirical relationship between the refractive index and wavelength of light for a particular transparent material. It is named for the mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy, who defined it in 1836.
Michael Faraday 1791-1867
Michael Faraday FRS was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis. Faraday, who became one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century, began his career as a chemist. He wrote a manual of practical chemistry that reveals his mastery of the technical aspects of his art, discovered a number of new organic compounds, among them benzene, and was the first to liquefy a “permanent” gas (i.e., one that was believed to be incapable of liquefaction). His major contribution, however, was in the field of electricity and magnetism. First to produce an electric current from a magnetic field, invented the first electric motor and dynamo, demonstrated the relation between electricity and chemical bonding, discovered the effect of magnetism on light, and discovered and named diamagnetism, the peculiar behavior of certain substances in strong magnetic fields. He provided the experimental, and a good deal of the theoretical, foundation upon which James Clerk Maxwell erected classical electromagnetic field theory.
Faraday took the suggestion, passed a beam of plane-polarized light through the optical glass of high refractive index that he had developed in the 1820s, and then turned on an electromagnet so that its lines of force ran parallel to the light ray. This time he was rewarded with success. The plane of polarization was rotated, indicating a strain in the molecules of the glass. But Faraday again noted an unexpected result. When he changed the direction of the ray of light, the rotation remained in the same direction, a fact that Faraday correctly interpreted as meaning that the strain was not in the molecules of the glass but in the magnetic lines of force. The direction of rotation of the plane of polarization depended solely upon the polarity of the lines of force; the glass served merely to detect the effect. This discovery confirmed Faraday’s faith in the unity of forces, and he plunged onward, certain that all matter must exhibit some response to a magnetic field.
To his surprise he found that this was in fact so, but in a peculiar way. Some substances, such as iron, nickel, cobalt, and oxygen, lined up in a magnetic field so that the long axes of their crystalline or molecular structures were parallel to the lines of force; others lined up perpendicular to the lines of force. Substances of the first class moved toward more intense magnetic fields; those of the second moved toward regions of less magnetic force. Faraday named the first group paramagnetics and the second diamagnetics. After further research he concluded that paramagnetics were bodies that conducted magnetic lines of force better than did the surrounding medium, whereas diamagnetics conducted them less well. By 1850 Faraday had evolved a radically new view of space and force. Space was not “nothing,” the mere location of bodies and forces, but a medium capable of supporting the strains of electric and magnetic forces. The energies of the world were not localized in the particles from which these forces arose but rather were to be found in the space surrounding them. Thus was born field theory. As Maxwell later freely admitted, the basic ideas for his mathematical theory of electrical and magnetic fields came from Faraday; his contribution was to mathematize those ideas in the form of his classical field equations.
George Green 1793-1841 While the ancient Greeks were familiar with both static electricity and permanent magnets, the nature of the two phenomena remained a subject of speculation until the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1800 the Italian physicist Count Alessandro Volta (1745-1827) created the Voltaic “pile,” a dependable source of electric current, and vast new experimental possibilities arose. In 1820, the Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851) reported that a current carrying wire had an effect on compass needles placed around it, a report that quickly brought new investigators into the field. By 1821 Oersted’s experiments were being reproduced and expanded upon by two men who would play a major role in the development of the new science of electromagnetism—André Marie Ampère (1775-1836) in France and Michael Faraday (1791-1867) in England. It was recognized that the electric and magnetic forces had some of the same characteristics as the gravitational force, but were of somewhat more complex character. It was easier, particularly in the case of magnetism, to think of each charged or magnetic object as setting up a disturbance in the space around it which would determine the force that would act on a charged or magnetic object placed at that point. The electric and magnetic fields each assigned a vector quantity to each point in space. As one went from any point to neighboring points, the magnitude and direction of the field would change—the rate of change being determined by the material present. The analogous problem in fluid flow had been treated by Swiss mathematician Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782) in a 1789 book on hydrodynamics. In a paper on fluids in 1752, the prolific Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) showed that the potential function satisfied a very simple equation involving second partial derivatives, a equation now generally known as Laplace’s equation after the French mathematician Pierre Simon Laplace (1749-1827).In March of 1828, George Green, a self-taught English amateur mathematician, published a work entitled “An Essay on the Application of Mathematical Analysis to the Theories of Electricity and Magnetism.” In this work Green introduced the notion of potential functions for the electric and magnetic field and showed how to construct the function by adding contributions from each charge. This essay included a very important formula, now known as Green’s theorem. Green’s work, distributed to only the 52 individuals who had financially supported the work, might have been lost had it not been for Sir William Thomson (aka Lord Kelvin; 1824-1907), who had it reprinted in a German mathematics journal in 1850. A few years earlier Thomson had noted that the solution to Laplace’s equation that took on a defined set of values on the boundary of a region of space would be, of all sufficiently “smooth” functions that satisfied the boundary conditions, that function which minimizes an integral commonly known as the Dirichlet integral after the German Mathematician Lejeune Dirichlet (1805-1859). Green and Thomson’s results together make it possible to determine the potential over a region of space, given either its values or that of its derivatives (the field) over the boundary. Over the course of the nineteenth century, considerable effart was devoted to elucidating the nature of light. This was motivated by the discovery of the polarization of light on reflection by Etienne Louis Malus (1775-1812) in 1808 and the strange “double refraction” of light into polarized beams in crystalline materials such Iceland spar, a form of calcium carbonate. Researcher in optics at the time considered light to be a vibration in a medium, the “luminiferous aether” which filled all space and somehow interacted with matter, but did not slow the motions of bodies moving through it. The Irish mathematician and astronomer Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805-1865) devoted several years of effort to this problem, not leaving any results of lasting value to optics, but developing the mathematical techniques later to be successfully applied by himself and others, including the German Karl Gustav Jacobi
(1804-1851), to problems in mechanics.
The true nature of light became apparent when the English mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) formulated the set of four Maxwell equations describing the behavior of the electric and magnetic fields in space. Applying the mathematical techniques of Green and others to the experimental observations of Ampère and Faraday, Maxwell derived in 1864 a set of four coupled partial differential equations which in empty space could take on the form of wave equations for the components of the electric and magnetic fields. The velocity of the waves was given in the equations in terms of the fundamental force constants of the electric and magnetic force, and turned out to be 300,000 km per second, exactly the measured speed of light in vacuum. There could then be little doubt that light was a form of electromagnetic radiation and that the effects of matter on light, reflection, refraction, and polarization could be calculated from the interactions of the electromagnetic field with the charged particles making up the matter in question.
James MacCullagh 1809-1847
James MacCullagh was an Irish mathematician who published on crystalline refraction and reflection. In attempts to perfect Fresnel’s theory of double refraction, MacCullagh discovered an elegant geometrical proof of the wave surface, the true boundary conditions at the limits of the refracting crystal, and a simple Lagrangian for the whole theory. By renouncing mechanical modeling in favor of a more abstract dynamical method, he unveiled the structure which optics came to share with Maxwell’s electrodynamics. MacCullagh gave a geometrical explanation of Fresnel’s wave surface by introducing the notion of reciprocal surfaces. He derived from the ellipsoidal index surface, its reciprocal, the ellipsoidal wave surface of Fresnel. When the elliptic section in Fresnel’s prescription became a circle, Hamilton showed in 1832 that there were an infinite number of refracted rays forming a cone of light. Conical Refraction was verified by Humphrey Lloyd and was demonstrated by James Lunney at the joint meeting. It was easy to analyze in terms of MacCullagh’s geometrical approach. Fresnel determined the relative amplitude of incident and reflected waves in the isotropic case through the boundary conditions: equality of the elastic constants on both sides (different densities), equality of the parallel components of the vibration, equality of the energy fluxes. These formulae are empirically valid if the vibration is perpendicular to the plane of polarization.
Sir George Gabriel Stokes 1819-1903
Various colleagues later wrote there was almost no topic in physics which Stokes did not meddle with, publish on, or lecture in throughout his lifetime—the sole exception being electricity. In particular Stokes focused on optics, friction in fluids, fluorescence (a phenomena he named and explained as the product of light whose wavelength had changed as a result of the substance it had been refracted from), planetary orbits, and the aether. Stokes spent a great deal of his life researching the nature of the aether, which he ultimately concluded was analogous to a jelly-like substance pervading the entire universe. Like jelly it was solid enough to transmit light rays through it (since the theory was that light rays could not travel in a vacuum) yet it was fluid enough to allow the planets to orbit through it. By the middle of the century Stokes was a widely demanded lecturer.
Stokes wrote various papers commenting on, criticizing, and developing ideas first proposed by French mathematicians such as Lagrange Laplace Fourier Poisson and Cauchy. His interest led him to advocate changes to Cambridge’s Tripos exam system to include more continental mathematics. This focus led some colleagues to label him a mathematician of the French tradition. It is generally acknowledged, however, that the papers Stokes wrote on mathematical topics were deeply related to his physical experiments. Stokes argued mathematics was and always would be secondary to physical experimentation in terms of developing scientific knowledge. Although math could help describe and formalize our observations, he claimed it alone could not prove anything about the various phenomena we observe. As part of his experimental drive, Stokes helped to set up the Cavendish laboratory in the mid 1880s. The lab aimed at directing more of Cambridge’s bright young minds to experimental issues in physics rather than solely pure mathematics. Stokes declined to take up leadership of the new laboratory telling his friends he was too old to take on new experimental projects. As a result, the laboratory started in 1884 was first run by J. J. Thomson (who went on to develop a theory of atomic structure with Ernest Rutherford). (Sketchy; theosophist
involvement?)
Stokes was often considered the authority on questions of optics, in particular, the functioning of the eye and the refraction of light waves in the eye’s structures. Yet he never ended up writing a final treatise on the subject though his colleagues long expected one from him. His personal friend and lifelong colleague Sir William Thomson or Lord Kelvin (the physicist who created the Kelvin scale of temperature) lamented that Stokes’s various administrative duties had taken up too much of his time and had restrained him from publishing the treatise and other works. Those duties were great indeed. To mention only a few Stokes was secretary of the Royal Society of London for thirty years prior to being its president for five he represented Cambridge University as a parliamentarian at Westminster from 1887 to 1891 and he was the president of the Victoria Institute (created in 1865 to explore the relationship between religion and science) from 1886 to 1903. Yet although his opus on optics never came to fruition Stokes did not fail to publish copious amounts on various intriguing topics throughout his lifetime. In the early 1840s he calculated the maximum height of various massive waves in the ocean. In 1845 he published a short paper in the Philosophical Magazine which showed measuring the aberration that Fresnel had written Arago about on the basis of the aether-drag that would occur in the undulatory aether theory. in 1849 he wrote two papers on variable gravitation on the Earth’s surface which is said to have reformed the science of geodesy. While it was known that the force of gravity differed depending on where a person was on Earth. Stokes claimed that this was not dependent upon the interior composition of the Earth which had been assumed to be the case up until then. About the same time, he published a paper on the internal friction of fluids (viscosity). Stokes calculated the effect of friction on a swinging pendulum; he also determined why clouds hangin the air as they do. He claimed that every falling object hits a terminal velocity when the pull of gravity downwards is offset by the friction the body experiences with the air. Because water droplets are so tiny, their fall to the Earth is offset by the friction of the air around them; thus clouds are suspended water particles. It was this work on the friction internal to fluids which led Stokes to his conclusion that the luminiferous ether was jelly-like in nature. In later years Stokes also provided answers to questions such as: why are sounds harder to hear when we stand upwind? How it is that sound vibrations travel from a vibrating body to surrounding gas? And what is the nature of Röntgen rays (also called X-rays)?
Gustav Kirchhoff 1824-1887
Gustav Robert Kirchhoff was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental
understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by
heated objects. He coined the term black-body radiation in 1862.
Lord Kelvin (William Thomson) 1824-1907
Invented the international system of absolute temperature which bears his name. Made
contributions to electricity, magnetism, thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, geophysics,
telegraphy, and other fields, publishing more than 650 papers in his life. Patented over 70
inventions. Was involved in the first transatlantic telegraph cable, and was knighted by queen
Victoria for doing so. While still a student at Cambridge, Thomson embarked on a comparative
study of the distribution of electrostatic force and the distribution of heat through a solid that
led him to conclude that the two are mathematically equivalent. This work, published as “On
the uniform motion of heat in homogeneous solid bodies, and its connection with the
mathematical theory of electricity,” was the foundation of his later work involving electric and
magnetic fields. Moreover, Thomson’s efforts in this area would provide the groundwork for
James Clerk Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetism, as Maxwell himself openly admitted.
Thomson was admitted to the University of Glasgow at the age of 10 and flourished
academically at the institute, where he first read The Analytical Theory of Heat by Jean Baptiste
Joseph Fourier. Following his years at the University of Glasgow, Thomson entered Cambridge
in 1841.
When he graduated four years later, he received highest honors. His interest in French
mathematical and scientific methods then inspired him to travel to Paris, where he gained
experience in the experimental side of physics by working in the laboratory of Henri-Victor
Regnault. When in 1846 the University of Glasgow needed to fill its chair of natural philosophy,
Thomson received the appointment with the help of his father, despite being just 22 years old.
He returned to Scotland from France and was content to remain associated with the University
of Glasgow throughout his career, though he received offers from other academic institutes.
Thomson’s influence on another great scientific mind is notable as well. In 1845, Thomson
mathematically analyzed Michael Faraday’s magnetic lines of force and wrote a letter to him in
August of that year explaining how his calculations predicted that magnetic fields should affect
the plane of polarized light. Faraday had many years before experimented with light and
magnetism, but without observing any connection between the two. Encouraged by
Thomson’s prediction, Faraday decided to readdress the problem and began a new series of
experiments in his laboratory. By mid-September he had proven that magnetism and light are
related, discovering what has come to be known as the Faraday effect.
Similar to Faraday, Thomson seems to have been guided by the idea that there is unity among
all types of matter and energy. Over the course of his career, he made significant strides in
unifying various theories, integrating the work of Charles Augustin de Coulomb and Siméon-
Denis Poisson, for instance, with that of Faraday. He also applied the ideas he developed with
George Gabriel Stokes regarding hydrodynamics to atomic theory and electrical theory, and
united James Joule’s dynamical theory of heat, which he gradually came to accept, to his own
dynamical theory of electricity and magnetism. Collaboration was clearly very important to
Thomson, who had made many important connections in the scientific world when he was
young through his father and even more when he was older due to his own initiative. The meeting between Joule and Thomson in 1847, for example, was very fruitful for both. In the
1850s, their collaboration led to Thomson’s positing a version of the second law of
thermodynamics (heat cannot be spontaneously transferred from a colder to a hotter body) and
the discovery of the Joule-Thomson effect in which the temperature of a gas is lowered via
expansion from high pressure to low pressure. In addition, Thomson’s work in thermodynamics
resulted in his development of the absolute temperature scale that is commonly known as the
Kelvin scale. Is accredited to have made a mechanical explanation of an optical aether more mathematically plausible through a reconciliation of old mechanical theories with gyro-static rigidity. This same property is employed in Green’s theorem and in MacCullaugh’s aether theory; however in Kelvin’s model, there exists a second/opposite dimension of the aether against which rotational torques of the optical aether are exerted, which also served to dismiss
Stoke’s objection against MacCullaugh’s aether.
James Clerk Maxwell 1831-1879
Wrote the fundamental Maxwellian equations which comprised the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, putting math to faraday and adhering to newton’s deeply fundamental laws of motion. Brought together electricity, magnetism, and light as all manifestations of the same phenomenon and field.
Edward W. Morley 1838-1923
Edward Williams Morley was an American scientist famous for his extremely precise and accurate measurement of the atomic weight of oxygen and for the Michelson–Morley experiment.
Edward Morley was indeed influenced by deep personal convictions, including spiritual and philosophical beliefs. As a devout Christian and son of a minister, Morley saw scientific inquiry as a way to understand the order and harmony of God’s creation. His commitment to precision and truth in measurement reflected a broader moral and spiritual outlook—he believed that uncovering the laws of nature was a form of honoring divine order. This worldview likely inspired his meticulous experimental work, including his pursuit of understanding the speed of light and testing the aether theory.
Oliver Heaviside 1850-1925
Self-taught math savant. Rewrote Maxwell’s equations in the form they are used today. Predicted the existence of the ionosphere, independently developed vector calculus, reinvented differential equations (Laplace transforms), and brought complex numbers to circuit analysis. His work on Maxwellian field equations.
Driven more by intellectual independence and a deep fascination with electromagnetism than by spiritual or religious conviction. Largely self-taught, he was inspired by James Clerk Maxwell’s equations and sought to simplify and apply them. His motivation stemmed from a desire to make complex physics more practical and understandable. He reformulated Maxwell’s original 20 equations into the four modern vector equations we use today, advancing electrical engineering and aether theory. Unlike Morley, Heaviside was skeptical of traditional views, including the aether, and approached physics with a bold, often contrarian spirit.
George Francis FitzGerald 1851-1901
Along with Lorentz formed a hypothesis for the spatial contraction or dilation of matter. respective to its velocity through the aether. This was done to accommodate for the null results in the search for aether drift throughout interferometry experiments done by Mitchelson, Morley, Gale, Miller, Piccard, and many others. Later along with Joseph Larmor, Fitzgerald built layers of mathematical intricacies upon the axioms of the original FitzGerald-Lorentz formulas to describe more radical effects of this hypothetical phenomenon; an object moving near the constant ‘c’ for the speed of light; 186, 300 m/s, would not only dilate in spatial, but also in its temporal conditions. [1] In this manner they eliminated all ‘aether-wind’ effects. Still at this point, however, Newton’s classic laws stood. [2]
Albert A. Michelson 1852-1931
Along with Edward W. Morley conducted interferometry experiments on the composition of the aether and light undulations through it. Joined the Masonic Lodge No. 21 in Washington D.C., though soon resigned from it. With Morley created the MM interferometer which produced “the greatest of all negative results”. Michelson and Morley sent their report titled “On the Relative Motion of the Earth and the Luminiferous Ether” to the American Journal of Science and it was also printed on England’s Philosophical Magazine. Scientists all over the world beheld the conclusions drawn from the data of this extremely sensitive experiment; light propagation is the same from all points and through all linear vectors on earth. Light moving with the earth’s rotation around the Sun does not move faster than light moving against the rotation of the Sun. This meant that the aether is not dragged by the earth and hence, that it does not exist. Although in its own axiom this conclusion can be mathematically plotted to define an aether-less (medium-less) field modality, it does directly not give rise to truth.
J.J. Thomson 1856-1940
At the Cavendish Laboratory of experimental physics, J.J. Thomson posited the existence of the ‘electron’ particle. Through studying radium samples, Marie and Pierre Curie in France, had claimed that electrons shot out of radioactive elements spontaneously travelled at speeds of 10,000 m/s. JJ Thomson was in the theosophist society; the covert scientific espionage and overtly mystical/esoteric group of which Thomas Edison, Madame Blavatsky, and other influential figures were members. The photoelectric effect is the only phenomenon which atomists suppose cannot be explained by the undulatory theory of light. This is fallacious because it is built on the axiom that electrons are particles. If electrons are in fact waves, for which there is indeed experimental evidence, then the photoelectric effect is simply a form of reflection. Though in this case the reflected wave has a ‘negative’ charge and perhaps due to
this is slightly different in its undulatory form. It could also indeed be that the material does absorb the energy in the UV undulations striking it, which gives it more charge than it can hold; as every element needs to maintain its precise charge potential in order to exist in stable physical form. This then would trigger the seeming ‘emission’ of negative charge which again is easily accounted for by negative, polarized undulatory discharges. Almost akin to a negative pulse-discharge. This is also the phenomenon involved in photosynthesis. Chlorophyll contains magnesium in its center, and it is that magnesium which is struck by the sun’s light, and which due to the amplifying nature of the chloroplast thylakoid membranes surrounding the stroma imparts enough of a positive charge upon the magnesium so to allow it to set off positive pulse-discharge undulations, which are likely transverse in wave-form. Instead of discharging though, these waves are are harvested by the chlorophyll molecule and transferred to organelles with capacitance before being selectively employed to break down carbon dioxide and water to produce oxygen and glucose. Talked about faraday tubes and moving charged particles. Worked out their trajectories in mathematical principles which defined hypothetical scenarios such as the effects of a moving charged particle suddenly coming to a halt. “All atoms of different elements have something in common”. “Dumas suggested that the primordial atom might not be the hydrogen atom but a smaller atom having only one quarter or one half of the weight of the mass of the hydrogen atom”.
Nikola Tesla 1856-1943
“Supposing that the bodies act upon the surrounding space causing curving of the same, it appears to my simple mind that the curved spaces must react on the bodies, and producing the opposite effects, straightening out the curves. Since action and reaction are coexistent, it follows that the supposed curvature of space is entirely impossible – But even if it existed it would not explain the motions of the bodies as observed. Only the existence of a field of force can account for the motions of the bodies as observed, and its assumption dispenses with space curvature. All literature on this subject is futile and destined to oblivion. So are all attempts to explain the workings of the universe without recognizing the existence of the ether and the indispensable function it plays in the phenomena…” “My second discovery was of a physical truth of the greatest importance. As I have searched the entire scientific records in more than a half dozen languages for a long time without finding the least anticipation, I consider myself the original discoverer of this truth, which can be expressed by the statement: There is no energy in matter other than that received from the environment.”
Tesla believed that the ether is thrown into “infinitesimal whirls” (“micro helices”) at near the speed of light, becoming ponderable matter. When the force subsides and motion ceases, matter reverts to the ether. Tesla’s ether was neither the “solid” ether with the “tenuity of steel” of Maxwell and Hertz, nor the half-hearted, entrained, gaseous ether of Lorentz. Tesla’s ether consisted of “carriers immersed in an insulating fluid”, which filled all space. Its properties varied according to relative movement, the presence of mass, and the electric and magnetic environment. Tesla’s ether was rigidified by rapidly varying electrostatic forces, and was thereby involved in gravitational effects, inertia, and momentum. Since the direction of propagation of electrostatic currents radiates from the earth, the so-called force of gravity is toward earth. Joseph Larmor 1857-1942 1887 Irish physicist and mathematician who made innovations in the understanding of electricity, dynamics, thermodynamics, and the electron theory of matter. His most influential work was Aether and Matter, a theoretical physics book published in 1900. Showed that the Green-Kelvin aether and MacCullaugh’s aether were inter-translatable.
“I would not give my rotating field discovery for a thousand inventions, however valuable… A thousand years hence, the telephone and the motion picture camera may be obsolete, but the principle of the rotating magnetic field will remain a vital, living thing for all time to come.” – N.T.
Arnold Sommerfeld 1868-1951
Pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and mentored many students for the new era of theoretical physics. He served as doctoral supervisor for many Nobel Prize winners in physics and chemistry.
Extended Bohr’s model into the Bohr–Sommerfeld model, introducing elliptical orbits and quantization of angular momentum and action variables. Incorporated special relativity into atomic theory to explain fine structure (energy level splitting). Contributed to early quantum mechanics and mentored a generation of leading physicists (e.g., Heisenberg, Pauli, Debye). Worked on electromagnetic theory and wave propagation in metals (skin effect).
Albert Einstein 1879-1955
Using FitzGerald’s and Lorentz’s Hypothesis and the additions from Larmor, Einstein enthroned the atomistic, nihilistic heliocentric cosmology now used to describe infinitesimally numerous yet finitely applicable formulae in physics. Through the atomistic, corpuscular theory of light and charged matter i.e. ‘electrons’ one is compelled towards an infinite spiral of information due to the nature of constants and their numerological patterns, though all of which leads to and comes from nothing. The Energy and Mass equivalence principle E = mc^2 denotes that an object can vanish as a result of it moving near the alleged universal speed limit; the speed of light; ‘c’. In this axiom, an object moving at the speed of light would distort space-time as it travels so to completely contract in its physical dimensions and all its purported ‘ponderable mass’ would be converted to its equivalent in energy.Thus, matter is simply extremely high frequency light; undulations in the aetheric medium at an extremely high rate, causing an inertial pressure and aether-torsion respective to the elementary geometries comprising each kind of matter.
“On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light
The first of these four papers is on the photoelectric effect, where electrons are released when light hits a material. Einstein put forth that light consists of “discrete packets” as opposed to the widely accepted wave theory of light. This later advanced the theory of wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics.
On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended in Stationary Liquids Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat
The second paper focuses on Brownian motion the erratic random movement of microscopic particles in a fluid as they collide. This paper helped to move the theory of atoms into reality by offering a way for scientists to count and observe their behavior during experiments.
On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies
In his third paper of 1905, Einstein argues that the speed of light is fixed and not relative to the observer. “…light is always propagated in empty space with a definite velocity c which is independent of the state of motion of the emitting body,” meaning that light travels at the same speed regardless of whether the source is moving or stationary. The Special Theory of Relativity also theorizes about what happens to objects when they travel near the speed of light (space contracts and time dilates). Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon its Energy Content?
The fourth paper, on the mass-energy equivalent gave us what is arguably the most famous equation in history: E=mc2.This equation showed that the energy of a body at rest equals its mass times the speed of light squared. The speed of light, or c, is 299,792,458 meters/second. That is a huge amount of energy that could be released, which would later be confirmed through the advent of nuclear bombs and reactors.”
“since the mathematicians have invaded the theory of relativity, I do not understand it myself anymore.” – A.E.
“God does not play dice” – A.E.
Richard Tetley (R.T.) Glazebrook ~1888
Applied Kelvin’s theory in double-refraction experiments obtaining satisfactory results and bringing together for the first time Green’s two aether dimensions as one.
Though not a direct contributor to aether theory or relativity, he enabled experimental precision that made tests like the Michelson–Morley experiment and others more reliable. He remained somewhat conservative, aligned more with classical physics traditions than with the revolutionary shifts of Einstein’s relativity.
Werner Von Heisenberg 1901-1976
Werner Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to the development of quantum mechanics. Born on December 5, 1901, in Würzburg, Germany, Heisenberg was a key figure in the development of the theory of quantum mechanics.
Uncertainty Principle (1927): This principle states that one cannot simultaneously know both the position and momentum of a particle with arbitrary precision. It highlighted the intrinsic limitations of measurement at quantum scales. It is impossible to know both the position and momentum of a particle with infinite precision at the same time.
Matrix Mechanics (1925): Developed the first complete and consistent version of quantum mechanics using matrices, emphasizing observable quantities over classical trajectories. Heisenberg formulated advancements to the theory of quantum mechanics in terms of matrices that led to the development of the modern theory of quantum mechanics.
Heisenberg’s Cut: Heisenberg introduced the concept of the “cut” or “S-matrix,” which is a fundamental concept in quantum field theory.
Copenhagen Interpretation: Alongside Niels Bohr, Heisenberg helped formulate this interpretation of quantum mechanics, emphasizing probability, complementarity, and the role of observation.
Quantum Field Theory and Nuclear Physics: Later, he worked on quantum field theory and attempted a unified field theory of fundamental particles, though his postwar work was less influential.
Enrico Fermi 1901-1954
Nobel Prize in Physics (1938): Fermi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation and his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons.
Manhattan Project: Fermi played a crucial role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
First controlled nuclear chain reaction: Fermi directed the first controlled nuclear chain reaction in 1942.
Enrico Fermi Award: In 1954, Fermi became the first recipient of the U.S. government’s Enrico Fermi Award.
Paul Dirac 1902-1984
Dirac’s work focused on the mathematical and theoretical aspects of quantum mechanics. He developed a relativistic theory of the electron, which predicted the existence of antimatter, and introduced the concept of positrons (the antiparticles of electrons). His work also led to the development of quantum field theory and the Dirac equation, which describes the behavior of fermions (particles with half-integer spin). Dirac was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933, jointly with Erwin Schrödinger, for their work on quantum mechanics. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and received the Copley Medal. Dirac’s work had a profound impact on the development of modern physics, and his theories continue to influence research in fields such as particle physics and cosmology. The Dirac equation remains a fundamental tool for understanding the behavior of subatomic particles, and his legacy is celebrated through the naming of the Dirac Prize and the Dirac software.
Wigner 1902-1955
Wigner’s Theorem: Wigner proved that any symmetry transformation in quantum mechanics can be represented by a unitary or anti-unitary operator on the Hilbert space of states. This theorem is a cornerstone of quantum mechanics and has far-reaching implications for the study of symmetry in physics. Symmetry in Quantum Mechanics: Wigner’s work on symmetry theory laid the foundation for the application of symmetry principles to quantum mechanics. He showed that symmetries can be used to classify particles and predict their properties.
Nobel Prize: Wigner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 for his work on the symmetry principles in quantum mechanics. Von Neumann-Wigner Interpretation: Wigner, along with John von Neumann, proposed the von Neumann-Wigner interpretation of quantum mechanics, which suggests that consciousness is necessary for the collapse of the wave function. Wigner’s Friend: Wigner also proposed the thought experiment known as Wigner’s friend, which explores the relationship between consciousness and the measurement problem in quantum mechanics.
Conventional Physics Timeline
Ancient & Classical Physics (Before 1500s)
~3000 BCE – Basic astronomy and timekeeping by ancient civilizations (Babylonians, Egyptians).
~600 BCE – Thales of Miletus suggests natural causes for phenomena, not gods.
~400 BCE – Democritus proposes the idea of the atom.
~350 BCE – Aristotle develops theories of motion, elements (earth, water, air, fire).
~250 BCE – Archimedes formulates principles of levers and buoyancy.
Scientific Revolution (1500–1700)
1543 – Copernicus publishes On the Revolutions, proposes heliocentric model.
1609 – Kepler publishes laws of planetary motion.
1610 – Galileo uses telescope; studies motion, free fall, inertia.
1687 – Isaac Newton publishes Principia: laws of motion and universal gravitation.
Classical Physics (1700–1900)
1785 – Coulomb formulates Coulomb’s law (electrostatics).
1801 – Thomas Young demonstrates wave nature of light (double-slit experiment).
1820 – Ørsted discovers link between electricity and magnetism.
1831 – Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction.
1865 – James Clerk Maxwell publishes Maxwell’s equations (unifies electricity, magnetism, light).
1887 – Michelson-Morley experiment fails to detect “aether” → challenges Newtonian physics.
Modern Physics (1900–1950)
1900 – Max Planck introduces quantum theory (blackbody radiation).
1905 – Einstein’s “miracle year”:
Photoelectric effect (quantum light),
Special relativity,
E=mc²
1911 – Rutherford discovers the atomic nucleus.
1915 – Einstein’s General Relativity explains gravity as curvature of spacetime.
1925–1927 – Birth of quantum mechanics (Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Born).
1932 – Discovery of the neutron (Chadwick).
Contemporary Physics (1950–Present)
1954 – Development of quantum field theory (QED, later QCD).
1964 – Higgs mechanism proposed (mass generation in particles).
1970s – Standard Model of particle physics solidifies.
1980s–2000s – Exploration of string theory, dark matter, dark energy.
2012 – Higgs boson discovered at CERN.
2015 – Gravitational waves detected by LIGO.
2020s – Advances in quantum computing, black hole imaging, and cosmic inflation models.
Aether Physics Timeline from a Conventional Perspective
Creating a timeline that integrates key developments in aether physics alongside Tesla’s contributions, especially his “Dynamic Theory of Gravity,” involves summarizing speculative, historical, and established scientific concepts. Here’s a streamlined timeline:
Pre-17th Century: Early Aether Concepts
Ancient Greece (5th Century BCE):
Philosophers like Aristotle describe the “aether” as a celestial substance filling the universe, distinct from the four classical elements (earth, water, air, fire).
17th-18th Century: Aether and Classical Mechanics
1665-1666:
Isaac Newton proposes the existence of a “medium” for gravitational forces but remains undecided about its nature.
1704:
Newton suggests an aether-like substance might be responsible for optical phenomena in his book Opticks.
1748:
Roger Boscovich theorizes that forces and a universal medium could explain interactions at a distance, influencing later thinkers.
19th Century: Aether Theories and Electromagnetism
1816:
Augustin-Jean Fresnel develops the wave theory of light, requiring an aether as the medium for light propagation.
1860s:
James Clerk Maxwell formalizes electromagnetic theory, treating light as an electromagnetic wave propagating through the “luminiferous aether.”
1887:
The Michelson-Morley experiment fails to detect Earth’s motion through the aether, challenging the classical aether concept.
Nikola Tesla and Aether Physics (1890–1920s)
1891:
Tesla begins discussing a “medium” through which electromagnetic energy propagates, drawing from Maxwell’s theories.
1907:
Tesla announces his “Dynamic Theory of Gravity,” hinting that gravity arises from interactions between matter and a universal medium (akin to aether). He claims space is not empty but filled with “dynamic matter,” providing the mechanism for energy transfer.
1915–1917:
Tesla criticizes Albert Einstein’s General Relativity, claiming it neglects the role of the universal medium.
1925–1930:
Tesla experiments with “longitudinal waves” and wireless energy transmission, suggesting that his methods leverage the properties of the universal aether.
20th Century: Decline of Aether Theories
1905:
Albert Einstein introduces Special Relativity, which eliminates the need for a stationary aether in explaining electromagnetic phenomena.
1916:
Einstein’s General Relativity redefines gravity as spacetime curvature, shifting mainstream physics away from aether-based explanations.
1920:
Einstein briefly revisits the concept of an aether-like medium (the “relativistic aether”) to describe spacetime properties, but it gains little traction.
Modern Resonances and Speculations
1970s-1990s:
Quantum field theory and vacuum energy concepts revive discussions about a “quantum aether” (e.g., zero-point energy).
21st Century:
Tesla’s ideas inspire speculative theories in fringe science and alternative energy research. Some reinterpret his “Dynamic Theory of Gravity” as early insights into unified field theories or quantum vacuum models.
Aether Physics Timeline v.2
Ancient & Medieval Theories of Aether
~400 BCE – Plato & Aristotle
Plato hints at a fifth element in his writings.
Aristotle formalizes aether (or “quintessence”) as the divine, unchanging substance making up celestial spheres — unlike the four earthly elements.
~200 CE – Ptolemaic Astronomy
Aether is integrated into the geocentric model: planets embedded in aether-filled celestial spheres.
Middle Ages
Islamic and European scholars uphold Aristotelian aether as part of natural philosophy and cosmology.
Renaissance to Early Scientific Revolution (1500–1700)
1543 – Copernicus
His heliocentric model still assumes perfect celestial spheres — possibly made of aether.
1600s – Descartes’ “Plenum”
René Descartes suggests that all space is filled with matter (a plenum), not empty — a mechanistic take on aether.
1678 – Christiaan Huygens
Proposes wave theory of light, traveling through an aether medium.
The Luminiferous Aether Era (1700s–1800s)
1704 – Isaac Newton
In Opticks, he leans toward a particle theory of light, but speculates about an aether affecting light and gravity.
1801 – Thomas Young
Double-slit experiment supports wave nature of light → light waves require a medium → strengthens luminiferous aether idea.
1865 – James Clerk Maxwell
Maxwell’s equations describe light as an electromagnetic wave. This implies light must propagate through something → assumed to be luminiferous aether.
Late 1800s – Aether gets weird
Physicists imagine aether as rigid (to carry light waves), massless, invisible, undetectable — increasingly problematic.
The Fall of the Aether (1887–1905)
1887 – Michelson-Morley Experiment
Attempts to detect Earth’s motion through the aether → null result. Huge blow to aether theory.
1892 – Lorentz & Fitzgerald
Propose length contraction to explain null result without ditching aether.
1905 – Albert Einstein
Special relativity eliminates the need for aether: light doesn’t need a medium; the speed of light is constant in all frames.
Aftermath and Philosophical Echoes (1905–Present)
1916 – General Relativity
Einstein briefly reintroduces a new “aether” as a metaphor for the fabric of spacetime, but it’s not the luminiferous aether.
1920 – Einstein lectures on “ether” in relativity
Suggests spacetime has properties akin to a medium, but not an absolute frame of reference.
Modern physics
Quantum field theory, vacuum fluctuations, and zero-point energy sometimes get poetic comparisons to aether, but these are mathematically rigorous and entirely different in nature.
Key Vestiges of Tesla’s Ideas in Modern Contexts
Longitudinal Waves:
Tesla’s emphasis on non-standard waveforms inspires modern experiments in wireless energy and plasmonics.
Quantum Vacuum:
Concepts like dark energy and zero-point fields parallel Tesla’s notion of a dynamic, energy-rich medium.
Unification Theories:
Efforts to reconcile gravity and electromagnetism echo Tesla’s broader vision for unified natural forces.
Tesla’s “Dynamic Theory of Gravity” remains speculative and lacks detailed documentation, but it reflects his visionary attempt to connect electromagnetism, gravity, and energy transfer within a universal medium—concepts that continue to intrigue both mainstream and alternative scientific thinkers.
Dynamic Aether Theory
A dynamic aether theory envisions a universal medium permeating all of space that is not static, as in classical aether models, but rather dynamic—characterized by motion, energy exchange, and interaction with matter. It merges classical aether ideas with modern physical concepts, aiming to explain phenomena such as gravity, electromagnetism, and energy transfer in the cosmos.
Core Principles of Dynamic Aether Theory
Aether as a Medium:
The aether is a continuous, fluid-like substance or field that fills all of space.
It is not inert; instead, it is a dynamic, energetic medium that responds to the presence of matter and electromagnetic fields.
Matter-Aether Interaction:
Matter does not exist independently of the aether but interacts with it. This interaction generates forces like gravity and inertia.
Matter is seen as condensed or organized energy structures within the aether, causing disturbances or “waves” that propagate through it.
Gravity as Aether Flow:
In dynamic aether theory, gravity is explained as a result of aether flowing into or around massive bodies, creating a pressure gradient.
Instead of spacetime curvature (as in General Relativity), gravitational effects arise from the movement and behavior of the aether around matter.
Electromagnetism and Aether:
Electromagnetic waves are disturbances or oscillations in the aether, akin to sound waves traveling through air.
Tesla’s longitudinal waves, for instance, would be vibrations or density changes in the aether, distinct from standard transverse electromagnetic waves.
Energy Transmission:
The aether serves as the medium for energy transfer across space, enabling phenomena such as wireless energy transmission, resonant coupling, and even potential faster-than-light communication.
It is proposed that “free energy” might be harnessed directly from the aether, as Tesla envisioned.
Key Components of a Dynamic Aether Theory
Aether Dynamics
The aether is a non-uniform medium with varying density, tension, and flow depending on the local environment.
Turbulent or vortex-like motions in the aether could give rise to electromagnetic fields, similar to fluid dynamics in classical physics.
Non-Linear Behavior
The aether exhibits non-linear properties, meaning its responses to disturbances (like the motion of matter) are complex and may result in emergent phenomena, such as gravitational or electromagnetic waves.
Role in Unification of Forces
Dynamic aether theories aim to unify gravity and electromagnetism by framing both as manifestations of aether dynamics:
Gravity as a result of convergent or gradient aether flow.
Electromagnetism as transverse or longitudinal oscillations within the aether.
Modern Inspirations and Interpretations
Zero-Point Energy:
The dynamic aether is sometimes equated with the quantum vacuum, an energetic “sea” of virtual particles and fluctuations underlying all of space.
Dark Energy and Dark Matter:
Some proponents suggest that the aether might be responsible for phenomena attributed to dark energy and dark matter, acting as a large-scale dynamic medium influencing the structure and expansion of the universe.
Quantum Field Theory (QFT):
A dynamic aether could be interpreted as a quantum field that mediates all interactions, including gravitational ones, aligning with efforts to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity.
Tesla’s Contributions to Dynamic Aether Theory
Nikola Tesla’s Dynamic Theory of Gravity resonates with dynamic aether ideas:
Longitudinal Waves: Tesla proposed that energy could propagate as longitudinal waves through a universal medium (aether), differing from conventional electromagnetic waves.
Energy Transfer: He theorized that the aether could store and transmit energy, potentially allowing for wireless power distribution and the extraction of “free energy.”
Gravity Mechanism: Tesla suggested gravity was a result of aether’s interaction with matter, aligning with the idea of aether flow or pressure gradients around massive objects.
Challenges and Criticism
Experimental Evidence: Despite intriguing ideas, no direct experimental evidence for aether (in any form) has been found, as demonstrated by experiments like Michelson-Morley and advancements in modern physics.
Compatibility with Relativity: Dynamic aether theories often conflict with Einstein’s Special and General Relativity unless they are reinterpreted as extensions of spacetime itself (e.g., “relativistic aether”).
Lack of Formalism: Many aether-based theories lack rigorous mathematical formulations compared to modern physics frameworks.
Conclusion
Dynamic aether theories represent an attempt to bridge classical physics, speculative concepts, and modern discoveries. By reintroducing a medium that underpins all physical phenomena, such theories provide a provocative framework for rethinking gravity, electromagnetism, and the fabric of the universe. While speculative, these ideas continue to inspire research into unifying natural forces and harnessing energy from the cosmos.
THE VITAL TRUTH 