Here is a good overview of Aether, I agree with Dr.
Aspden and have long used the aether spelling to
differentiate between the chemical 'ether'...taking
the path of the heretic..I love that phrase...;
http://www.energyscience.co.uk/ov/ov004.htm
The above is the definition of the word 'ether' to be
found in Chambers dictionary, 1998. A 1934 Edition of
the Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the ether as
'the subtle elastic fluid permeating space and filling
the interstices between particles of air and other
matter, a medium through which light-waves are
propagated.'
In these web pages I use the spelling 'aether' to
distinguish it from the chemical (anaesthetic) meaning
of the word 'ether'.
These dictionary meanings are ambiguous. The aether is
best defined as 'that which fills space devoid of
matter'.
If you say there is 'nothing' in that space, meaning
that space itself is 'nothingness', then 'space',
which the dictionary defines as 'a continuous
extension viewed with or without reference to the
existence of objects in it', is something you view
when there is nothing there to see.
With its other meaning you are viewing something that
is not there by looking at what is there.
'Nothingness' means 'non-existent'.
The word 'aether' has to mean something and the
physicist should accept it as meaning 'that which
fills space devoid of matter', even though he or she
may try then to prove that what does fill that space
is so subtle as to be ignored for all practical
purposes.
There are then three scientific perspectives that one
can consider. Firstly, it can be declared by way of
assumption that the aether has a specific property of
determining the constant speed of light relative to an
absolute universal frame of reference.
Alternatively, one can say that the aether is a
'subtle elastic fluid permeating space', a medium so
subtle that it can adapt to ensure that the finite
speed of light as measured in the presence of matter
takes its reference on a frame determined by the
matter present.
The third perspective is to say that the aether is
'that which fills space devoid of matter', 'that'
being a sea of energy, the deployment and
reorganization of which accounts for the creation of
matter and then go on to supplement that with the
second definition.
The history which led to the conflict between the
Chambers 1998 dictionary definition of 'aether' as a
'former belief' and the 1934 Oxford dictionary
definition as a 'subtle elastic fluid' is that of
Einstein's theory in assuming, quite falsely, that, if
the aether exists it defines the light propagation
frame as an absolute single frame of reference.
Such history has meant that scientists have turned
their thoughts away from the study of the properties
of aether proper, a study which nevertheless can lead
us to the prospect of harnessing its energy and
understanding its true regulating effect on light
propagation, particularly the scaled frequency loss
implicit in the Hubble constant, which has been
misinterpreted as an orderly progressive expansion of
the universe in a sea of nothingness.
If you really wish to follow the path of the heretic
then read on. You will learn all about the aether and
see that I must be right in making these statements.
> Thomas Buyea wrote:
>
> > What is aether ?
> > It is not in any of my dictionaries. Isn't it
> > some theoretical condition that may not exist ?
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Please respond to jdecker@keelynet.com
as I am writing from my work email of
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