Concept

Luminiferous aether

Overview

Luminiferous aether or ether (luminiferous meaning 'light-bearing') is the formerly postulated medium for the propagation of light. It was invoked to explain the ability of the apparently wave-based light to propagate through empty space (a vacuum), something that waves should not be able to do. The assumption of a spatial plenum (space completely filled with matter) of luminiferous aether, rather than a spatial vacuum, provided the theoretical medium that was required by wave theories of light.

The aether hypothesis was the topic of considerable debate throughout its history, as it required the existence of an invisible and infinite material with no interaction with physical objects. As the nature of light was explored, especially in the 19th century, the physical qualities required of an aether became increasingly contradictory. By the late 19th century, the existence of the aether was being questioned, although there was no physical theory to replace it.

The negative outcome of the Michelson–Morley experiment (1887) suggested that the aether did not exist, a finding that was confirmed in subsequent experiments through the 1920s. This led to considerable theoretical work to explain the propagation of light without an aether. A major breakthrough was the special theory of relativity, which could explain why the experiment failed to see aether, but was more broadly interpreted to suggest that it was not needed. The Michelson–Morley experiment, along with the blackbody radiator and photoelectric effect, was a key experiment in the development of modern physics, which includes both relativity and quantum theory, the latter of which explains the particle-like nature of light.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

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Picture to yourselves the waves on the ocean, and reckon from crest to crest of successive waves. The number of waves which pass a given point in one second is called the frequency of that system of waves. A system of light-waves of definite frequency corresponds to a definite colour in the spectrum. Now a molecule, when excited, vibrates with a certain number of definite frequencies.
Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the modern world
States what Luminiferous aether is.
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The moral of this is that, if an electron is only known by its “effects,” there is no reason to suppose that anything exists except the “effects.” In so far as these “effects” consist of light waves and other electromagnetic disturbances, we may say that what is called “empty space” consists of regions where these disturbances are propagated freely. Every such disturbance, we find, has a center, and when we get very…
Bertrand Russell, The A B C of Relativity
States what Luminiferous aether is.
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Again, according to the _Sânkhya_, atoms are not the primal state. This universe does not come out of atoms, they may be the secondary, or tertiary state. The original matter may compound into atoms, which in turn compound into greater and greater things, and as far as modern investigations go, they rather point towards that. For instance, in the modern theory of ether, if you say ether is also atomic, that will not…
Swami Vivekananda, Jnâna Yoga, Part II
States what Luminiferous aether is.
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Philosophers who discussed Luminiferous aether

Ivan Orlov (philosopher)

Related ideas

Opposing perspectives

Spacetime

Place in the tradition

Part of Atomism.

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