Thus the hope began to take form
that we might succeed in demonstrating the unity of all physical
forces. It was thought that the knowledge of the laws relating to the
inmost movements of this ether might give us the key to all phenomena,
and might make us acquainted with the method in which energy is stored
up, transmitted, and parcelled out in its external manifestations.
We cannot study here all the problems which are connected with the
physics of the ether. To do this a complete treatise on optics would
have to be written and a very lengthy one on electricity. I shall
simply endeavour to show rapidly how in the last few years the ideas
relative to the constitution of this ether have evolved, and we shall
see if it be possible without self-delusion to imagine that a single
medium can really allow us to group all the known facts in one
comprehensive arrangement.
As constructed by Fresnel, the hypothesis of the luminous ether, which
had so great a struggle at the outset to overcome the stubborn
resistance of the partisans of the then classic theory of emission,
seemed, on the contrary, to possess in the sequel an unshakable
strength.
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