This gives you an idea what a deep thinker Faraday was. Do you know if he posited this idea before Maxwell published his equations? I thought I had read everything Faraday wrote. Somehow I missed this one.
MIchael On Monday, April 15th, 2024 at 12:08 PM, H L V <hveeder...@gmail.com> wrote: > This is a quote from a letter written by Michael Faraday to Richard Philips > on April 15, 1846 (bold letters were added by me) > > "The view which I am so bold to put forth considers, therefore, radiation as > a kind of species of vibration in the lines of force which are known to > connect particles and also masses of matter together. It endeavors to dismiss > the aether, but not the vibration. The kind of vibration which, I believe, > can alone account for the wonderful, varied, and beautiful phaenomena of > polarization, is not the same as that which occurs on the surface of > disturbed water, or the waves of sound in gases or liquids, for the > vibrations in these cases are direct, or to and from the centre of action, > whereas the former are lateral. It seems to me, that the resultant of two or > more lines of force is in an apt condition for that action which may be > considered as equivalent to a lateral vibration; whereas a uniform medium, > like the aether, does not appear apt, or more apt than air or water." > > The idea of an aether which exists independently of matter and fills the > vacuum is what the Michelson-Morely experiment was designed to detect. > However, if I am reading Faraday correctly he is saying that the transmission > of light depends on the source and the receiver being linked together by > "lines of force". Unlike the hypothesized aether, Faraday's lines of force > have _no_ existence independent of charged particles. While the MM apparatus > is being built the lines of force would be constantly morphing but once the > apparatus was complete they would quickly settle down into static lines. When > the experiment begins the lines of force between the mirrors can be likened > to straight fibre optic cables between the mirrors. At this stage since the > lines of force would be moving in tandem with the entire apparatus Faraday's > qualitative theory predicts the observed null result of the Michelson-Morely > experiment. > > Harry > > Harry
