CHAPTER VI
THE ETHER
Sec. 1. THE LUMINIFEROUS ETHER
It is in the works of Descartes that we find the first idea of
attributing those physical phenomena which the properties of matter
fail to explain to some subtle matter which is the receptacle of the
energy of the universe.
In our times this idea has had extraordinary luck. After having been
eclipsed for two hundred years by the success of the immortal
synthesis of Newton, it gained an entirely new splendour with Fresnel
and his followers. Thanks to their admirable discoveries, the first
stage seemed accomplished, the laws of optics were represented by a
single hypothesis, marvellously fitted to allow us to anticipate
unknown phenomena, and all these anticipations were subsequently fully
verified by experiment. But the researches of Faraday, Maxwell, and
Hertz authorized still greater ambitions; and it really seemed that
this medium, to which it was agreed to give the ancient name of ether,
and which had already explained light and radiant heat, would also be
sufficient to explain electricity.
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