ed., 1905, vol. ii. p. 526).
On the other hand, the well-known physicist Dr A.H. Bucherer, speaking
at the Naturforscherversammlung, held at Stuttgart in 1906, declared
his disbelief in the existence of the ether, which he thought could
not be reconciled at once with the Maxwellian theory and the known
facts.--ED.]
It was the study of the phenomena of polarization which led Fresnel to
his bold conception of transverse vibrations, and subsequently induced
him to penetrate further into the constitution of the ether. We know
the experiment of Arago on the noninterference of polarized rays in
rectangular planes. While two systems of waves, proceeding from the
same source of natural light and propagating themselves in nearly
parallel directions, increase or become destroyed according to whether
the nature of the superposed waves are of the same or of contrary
signs, the waves of the rays polarized in perpendicular planes, on the
other hand, can never interfere with each other. Whatever the
difference of their course, the intensity of the light is always the
sum of the intensity of the two rays.
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