Show Notes
Water waves are movements in water, so light waves are movements in… aether. At least that was the leading theory in the 18th century. Sounds simple enough but nailing down what this aether is leads to curious properties. In truth light waves are quite different from water waves in many respects including that their speed is constant no matter how fast you yourself are going. The history of aether theory is tied to the emergence of both quantum theory and relativity. It records how scientists struggled to let go of their intuition and see the reality of space and time in a new light. Join us on our mission to understand the true nature of light and listen to this week’s episode of Good in Theory.
More from Good in Theory
Is the universe infinite? Was there a beginning of time? Einstein himself preferred to think of the universe as unchanging, having neither beginning nor end. Experiments showed the expansion of the universe, proving Einstein wrong. Given this new evidence scientists had two choices: either the universe started in an incredibly dense state and expanded, diluting to the density we observe today (the big bang model) or even though it is expanding there is a mechanism keeping the density of the universe constant, so that the overall appearance of the universe stays the same (the steady state model). More and more evidence favouring the big bang model was found, but some cosmologists clung tight to the idea of the steady state theory. Take some time to listen to this week’s episode of Good in Theory!
How do rocks form? Neptunism is a theory that suggests all rocks formed in a primeval ocean through sedimentation. Proponents claimed this could explain why we find different types of rock in different layers of the earth. Volcanic phenomena were dismissed as being newer in earth's history and not relevant for understanding most rocks we can observe. While intriguing, this theory did not stand the test of time as other types of rock formation were shown to be significant. Dive in and listen to this week’s episode of Good in Theory!
At an early stage of development human embryos have gill-like features. Observations like this prompted scientists to suggest that embryo development copies the evolutionary development of the species. Their theory became known as recapitulation theory and had the slogan “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”. Many scientists, such as Charles Darwin, disagreed with recapitulation theory even though they agreed that embryos of different species share a lot of similarities. Ultimately as the development of embryos in the womb was better understood recapitulation theory was superseded. Still it left its mark on science, even influencing cognitive research and music theory. Develop your understanding of embryology and listen to this week’s episode of Good in Theory!
What is the difference between hydrogen and helium? Before the internal structure of atoms was known atoms were thought to be like tiny pool balls. This can explain different sizes and masses, but fails to explain the difference in chemical properties. That’s when the vortex theory of atoms emerged. Atoms were believed to be vortexes in an aether that permeated everything. This theory went beyond established mathematics, so that its proponents had to develop hydrodynamics and establish a new field called knot theory. The full theory seemed to always be just out of reach, but surely with a bit more development of the mathematical foundations all open questions would be answered. In the end the downfall of aether theory took the vortex theory of the atom down with it. Do knot miss out on this week’s episode of Good in Theory!
After the great success of thermodynamics some scientists started to doubt that mechanics, the theory describing the movement of matter, was fit to describe the underlying nature of reality. They believed that thermodynamics teaches us that energy is more fundamental than matter, leading them to the theory of energeticism. Not only was this theory met with scepticism, its proponents were pretty much attacked by scientists backing the more accepted theory of atoms. Everyone loves an underdog, but unfortunately this story ends with the destruction of energeticism when atoms were experimentally discovered. If you want some good energy, listen to this week’s podcast of Good in Theory.