Introduction to the Debate
 


This site is mainly designed with the assumption that you at least have some understanding of the debate and the science behind it. At certain points assumptions of a deeper knowledge about historical events in this field may be assumed as well, but I will do my best to provide many links by which a reader can educate themselves further on the specifics if they wish. This debate takes place largely in the field of logic before mathematical calculations. It is a critique of the ability to know what calculations to use instead of the accuracy of the calculations themselves. This part of logic is what separates the intelligence of a human from the intelligence of a calculator. The rest of the debate stems from both sides accusing each other of interpreting the results of various experiments with a definitive slant; however, in recent times, you will not frequently find anyone to take the Aether side because of the risk of being labeled a quack and becoming a pariah. Social acceptance should not be a consideration of scientific pursuit but in this case it is a large factor.

 

The foundation of Special Relativity is grounded in three primary events. (Long Explanation Here)

  1. Maxwell's equations showed that accelerating a charge produced electromagnetic radiation which always traveled at the speed of light. The equations showed that the speed of the radiation did not change based upon the speed of the source. This is consistent with analogies to mechanical waves such as sound etc.
  2. Hendrik Lorentz and others had already noted that Electromagnetic forces differed depending on the observer. For example, one observer might see no magnetic field in a particular area while another moving relative to the first does. He developed a theory in which ether underwent a shortening and time dilation. This was known as Lorentz Ether Theory (LET) and it was criticized, even by Lorentz himself because of its ad hoc nature.
  3. The Michelson-Morley Experiment was carried out with Maxwell's equations in mind and the thought that the earths progression through the Aether should be able to be measured; herein lies the largest part of the contention. During the period in which some of these tests were carried out, there were both positive and negative results found by many notable scientists. Unfortunately, the positive results were ignored or interpreted with a bent. Subsequently, a movement emerged that the speed of light does not vary with the speed of the observer, and since—according to Maxwell's equations—it does not vary with the speed of the source, the speed of light must be invariant for all observers.

Though Einstein is, of course, is credited with the origination of the Theory of Relativity, history seems to indicate that Einstein was actually more its assembler than creator. ( Einstein The Irrational Plagiarist)

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." -Albert Einstein

 

We will be revisiting the contentions of those respected scientists of that time, and the interpretations of various experiments. Even 30 years after the publication of Einstein's theory, a consensus was not reached. A very large portion of of the scientific community still were attempting to find better ways to detect the Aether and did not believe that the Relativity theory held water against the scientific evidence. Some of the most notable scientists were Dayton Miller and Georges Sagnac. Miller was an associate of Edward Morley, who conducted many years of positive resulting Aether tests with far more precise equipment than the original MMX, and I believe he was the first to conceive the notion of "Earth Entrained Ether". Sagnac devised another successful Aether detecting experiment and though the results are widely accepted, proponents of relativity attempt to fit it into their model. The largest contribution to ending the debate was the use of the atomic bomb. This one success emotionally overshadowed any arguments. Fully in view of the public across the entire world on August 6, 1945 Einstein, a man who detested war, single-handedly ended the worst war this world has ever seen. On that day, in the eyes of the public, that man became a god beyond reproach.

 

The reason that this debate is important is because of how deeply engrained in theoretical physics the theory is. Einstein himself, when speaking of Dayton Miller's positive results said, " the existence of a not trivial positive effect would affect very deeply the fundament of theoretical physics as it is presently accepted."