aetheory – a theory of aether
Aether, a theory of a substance pervading the Universe, appeals to me.
The idea has been superseded by SpaceTime but some would say that aether has been refuted by it.
A third concept to include is that of Vacuum or Void.
Each idea has properties that can explain observations but SpaceTime remains preeminent … though recent observations that measure nanoscale disturbance in atoms and beams of light point to either SpaceTime or a fourth candidate medium.
Having grown-up with SpoaceTime as the dominant theory, I also learnt about aetherspace through fiction and references to it in science books. Much of the sci-fi that I read in the 70’s mentions aether and Douglas Adams’ “Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” has communication through sub-ether radio.
My conception of aether was as being equivalent to water though you could not get a bucket and fill it with aether to put out a “fire” of some mysterious material composing spaceships that was akin to wood. I was into pirate films for awhile.
When observing nightime sky (in a light-polluted area) the sky is dark except for the few stars which are visible. Bodies in the Solar System like the Moon appear bright from reflected sunlight, observation of Venus and Mars reveal that they have couds; the dfference between the Moon and Mars can be deduced to be related to an atmosphere on Mars akin to that of Earth.
Why the Earth’s daytime sky usually appears blue is attributed to dust particles and atmospheric gases being illuminated by the Sun – the Moon’s light not being strong enough to do the same.
So, the space between Earth and Moon cannot have a gas content large enough to luminesce or support atmosoheric clouds.
Some bodies in the nightsky did appear to be clouds of gas, though.
Figuring out what was between Earth and Moon gave rise to the two competing ideas of aether and void. The void would not luminesce due to its absence but the aether could be seen as clear water in which astronomical bodies could float.
So, what was stopping that water from falling out of the sky? Nothing. It rains all the time on Earth.
The idea of the Earth being at the heart of a leaky bubble did not please my child mind. Junior & Infant school learning (as well as science on television and in books) filled in knowledge of evaporation and precipitation.
The concept of Gravity holding atmosphere to the planet in a void is better but then why does the atmosphere not get sucked into Space? The strength of Gravity was enough to maintain atmosphere while allowing for mutual attraction with the Moon which was itself in motion and having a battle between flying-off due to its rotation but still being attracted to Earth – orbits and gravity.
The 70’s & 80’s media expressed how Space was a vacuum. I laughed.
The vacuum had tiny amounts of matter in it but was otherwise empty. The motion of bodies about the Sun was due to Gravity emitted from the bodies being like magnetism or electricity.
This was bizarre to me but I chose to add it to the mindtools.
Enter better descriptions of SpaceTime; here demonstrations of small balls circling a large ball on an elastic sheet adequately showed me an analogy of Space being like a fabric. And, yet, this fabric was beyond being a flat fabric; it was more a three-dimensional block that was porous and yet supportive. Like Gravity in a void, SpaceTime Gravity was a web of bodies in ever greater accumulations throughout the Universe. I doubted the web of orbits but agreed with porous hypermedium of SpaceTime.
The ideas of bodies emitting Gravity like energy particles faded with the notion that the Gravity particles leaked away into other dimensions so explaining both their regional large scale strength and local weakness.
Better explanations of SpaceTime gave the concept that Gravity particles were not needed as Gravity was a product of how bodies curved SpaceTime – normal gravity led to orbits (flat-curved sheets of Space), abnormally strong Gravity led to blackholes (gravity-wells as if the centre of the sheet was pulled down creating a cone shape).
Gravity and SpaceTime remained a mystery though.
Then in the 2000’s and onwards, measuring distortion of Space by looking at long lengths of metal and the steadyness of laser beams produced long awaited evidence that there were Gravitational Waves created by the collision and merger of massive astronomical bodies.
This was a proof of the physicality of SpaceTime. It wasn’t just an impossible to measure abstract, it could be distinguished from noise and be given measurements such as frequency and amplitude. It was a physical substance with elastic properties that could transmit the energy of massive collisions from billions of light years away and billions of years ago.
Sounds like aether to me.
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