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Whitehead on aether
Light is a wave, and the ''luminiferous aether'' (or ether) is defined to be whatever medium transmits the light waves.
Light is a wave, and the ''luminiferous aether'' (or '''''ether''''') is defined to be whatever medium transmits the light waves.
The [[Michelson-Morley experiment]] in 1887 failed to detect any motion of the aether relative to the Earth. [[Henri Poincaré]] conjectured that the aether may be unobservable, and invented special [[relativity]] based on the notion that the aether may be superfluous. [[Albert Einstein]] published conflicting opinions on whether the aether exists.
The [[Michelson-Morley experiment]] in 1887 failed to detect any motion of the aether relative to the Earth. [[Henri Poincaré]] conjectured that the aether may be unobservable, and invented special [[relativity]] based on the notion that the aether may be superfluous. [[Albert Einstein]] published conflicting opinions on whether the aether exists.
The existence of luminiferous aether is a [[counterexamples to relativity|counterexample to relativity]] as it is sometimes described, as it is sometimes said that Einstein abolished the aether.
The existence of luminiferous aether is a [[counterexamples to relativity|counterexample to relativity]] as it is sometimes described, as it is sometimes said that Einstein abolished the aether.
A.N. Whitehead states 5 reasons that had provided for long time the support for acceptance of aether hypothesis:<ref name="Enquiry">{{cite book
|author=A. N. Whitehead
|title=An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|year=1919, 1925, 2011
|sides=23-25
|chapter=5.The Ether
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PUFTdE1wQqYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Whitehead+enquiry&source=bl&ots=k3C2SWYn0u&sig=urZvQ3b6kXrOBL6-_yZbRfQ34d0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Eh5zUIPyF4b0sgbEooDwAw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
|isbn=978-1-107-60012-6
|quote=}}</ref>
#The wave theory of light required existence of ether as one of its postulates
#[[Maxwell's Equations]] describe electrostatic and magnetic attractions by means of describing the status changes of ether
#[[Maxwell's Equations]] assume events in a space that is evidently void. There must be something to which these properties could be ascribed.
#The identification of light with electromagnetic waves performed by C.Maxwell shows that the same entity (aether) is implied by at first glance different optical and electromagnetic phenomena thus should be able to unify their interpretation
#The possibility to perceive static "ether sea" which homogeneously penetrates all space of cosmos as absolute frame of reference towards which the Newton's laws of motion are referenced. Ether acquires this special character in Lorentz's and Larmore's theory however such extrapolation is discouraged by Whitehead as it is rooted in solely speculative entity lacking any experimental evidence.
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Science]]