as per my talk this year:
The Vortex Atom: A Victorian Theoryof Everything
Helge Kragh, Centaurus 2002:Vol. 44: pp. 32–114.
Kragh explains that in Victoriantimes there was a unified theory.
That old physics, is missed outfrom being taught physics students. So, they go
through their education tobecome professors having missed out the old physics
unified theory.
Up to early 20th century the physicists were beingtaught things that are now
omitted.
According to Kragh: The vortex atomgave impulse not only to advances in
mathematical hydrodynamics, but also to anew branch of topology, the theory of
knots. Although knot theory can be tracedback to a work of 1847, by the German
mathematician Johann Listing, it was onlywith Tait’s contributions that the
field became recognised as an interestingbranch of mathematics. Originally
inspired by Helmholtz’s paper on vortexmotion and its perceived relevance for
quarternion analysis, Tait started about1870 to think seriously about topology.
In this work, that soon led him to thestudy of knots, the theory of vortex
atoms served as a strong impulse andbecame, in his mind, integrally linked with
a topology of matter.
-So, the vortex theory was leadingto study of new branches of mathematics
The mathematics of the theorybecame too complicated
Kragh: Given that the theory wasimmensely complicated from a mathematical point
of view, it could always beargued that it was not yet understood sufficiently to
be physically useful. Forexample, as early as 1872 Kelvin argued that the
difficulties ‘‘are . . ., inall probability, only dependent on the weakness of
mathematics’’ (Smith andWise 1989, p. 425).
So, there is this old unifiedtheory that is no longer taught to physicists, but
it influenced the creationof the maths that physicists are still using.
i.e. physicists are losing touchwith the history of the development of their
theoretical framework and itstools.
Attempt was started to combineBoscovich’s theory of particles with vortex
theory:
Kragh: Pearson’s modified theory of1891, he sought to combine the merits of the
extended vortex atom and theBoscovichian point atom. This he did by reducing
the atomic sphere to a pointfrom which ether continuously flows in all
directions of space, or what hecalled an ether squirt. He later described in
his point atom as ‘‘somethinglike a tap turned on under water, except that the
machinery of the tap isdispensed with in the case of the squirt’’ (Pearson
1900, p. 267).
- I prefer term “point-particle” to“point-atom”
On Sunday, 16 December 2018, 00:02:15 GMT, ROGER ANDERTON
<[email protected]> wrote:
and in 18th century it is generally forgotten that unified field theory
published
>From Boscovich's theory to modern quantum theory: Prof Dragoslav Stoiljkovic
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>From Boscovich's theory to modern quantum theory: Prof Dragoslav Stoiljk...
"From Boscovich's theory to modern quantum theory": talk by retired Professor
Dragoslav Stoiljkovic based on his...
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On Saturday, 15 December 2018, 18:47:40 GMT, Jed Rothwell
<[email protected]> wrote:
Jones Beene <[email protected]> wrote:
P&F were fully aware of all of this.
They were indeed. I think Fleischmann told Mallove about it, and Mallove
included it in his book. Fleischmann read many 19th and early 20th century
journals. He said they were a treasure trove of forgotten discoveries and good
science.
- Jed
