Chapter IV.
THE UNIVERSAL ETHER.
[Sidenote: The modern theory of light was established only about the year 1830.]
The nature of light has been in every age a fascinating subject for study and reflection. Descartes, the French mathematician and philosopher, advanced the hypothesis that light consists of small particles emitted by luminous bodies, and that the sensation of light is produced by the impact of these particles upon the retina of the eye. Soon after this emission or corpuscular theory had been proposed, Hooke, an English investigator of great note, stated publicly that the phenomena of light, as he had observed them, led him to the belief that the nature of light could best be explained on the assumption that light was a kind of undulation or wave in some unknown medium, and that the sensation of light was. produced when these waves struck upon the retina of the eye. This new hypothesis, known as the theory of undulations, after the great Isaac Newton had declared himself in favor of the corpuscular theory, was finally adjudged by the majority of students to be erroneous.
About the year 1800, more than a century after the days of Descartes, Hooke and Newton, an English physician, Dr. Thomas Young, who had long experimented on the nature of light, asserted that the emission theory could not explain many of the best known phenomena of light. Dr. Young further claimed that correct explanations could be made only by the theory of waves of undulation of an etherial medium diffused through space, and presented numerous experimental evidences in favor of this view. This revival of the old theory of undulation met at first with violent opposition from many of the greatest scientific minds of the day. Sometime after Dr. Young's publication, a French army officer, Augustine Fresnel, undertook the study of the nature of light, and arrived, almost independently, at the conclusion stated by Dr. Young. Later, other investigators discovered light phenomena which could be explained only on the undulatory hypothesis, and so, little by little, the new theory gained ground and adherents.
Still, even as late as 1827, the astronomer Herschel published a treatise on light, in which he appeared to hold the real merit of the theory of undulations in grave doubt.[A] Likewise, the Imperial Academy at St. Petersburg, in 1826, proposed a prize for the best attempt to relieve the undulatory theory of light of some of the main objections against it.[B] It was several years later before the great majority of the scientific world accepted the theory of undulations as the correct explanation of the phenomena of light.
[Footnote A: History of the Inductive Sciences, Whewell, 3rd edition,
Vol. II, p. 114.]
[Footnote B: Loc. cit., 117.]
[Sidenote: A subtle substance, the ether, fills all space.]
In brief, this theory assumes that a very attenuated, but very elastic, substance, called the ether, fills all space, and is found surrounding the ultimate particles of matter. Thus, the pores of wood, soil, lead, gold and the human body, are filled with the ether. It is quite impossible by any known process to obtain a portion of space free from it. A luminous body is one in which the ultimate particles of matter, the atoms or molecules, are moving very rapidly, and thus causing disturbances in the ether, similar to the disturbances in quiet water when a rock is thrown into it; and, like the water wave, proceeding from the point of disturbance, so the ether waves radiate from the luminous body into space. When a wave strikes the retina of the eye, the sensation of light is produced. This new-found ether was soon used for the explanation of other natural phenomena.
[Sidenote: Light, heat, electricity and other forces are forms of ether motion.]
The nature of heat had long been discussed when the world of science decided in favor of the undulatory theory of light. One school held that the sensation of heat was caused by the cannonading of heat particles by the heated body; the other school, with few adherents, insisted that heat was simply a form of motion of the ether already adopted in the theory of light. The later discoveries of science proved with considerable certainty that the undulatory theory of heat is right, but it was well towards the middle of the last century before the emission theory of heat lost its ground. In fact, Dr.Whewell, in the third edition of his classic book on the History of Inductive Sciences, published in 1859, says that the undulatory theory of heat "has not by any means received full confirmation;"[A] and Dr. John Tyndall, in a book published in 1880, says, that the emission theory "held its ground until quite recently among the chemists of our own day."[B] Today, the evidences of modern science are overwhelmingly in favor of the undulatory theory of heat.
[Footnote A: Vol. II, p. 184.]
[Footnote B: Heat, A Mode of Motion, Tyndall, 6th ed., p. 38.]
The wonderful developments of the last century, in electricity and magnetism, led to much speculation concerning the nature of the subtle electrical and magnetic forces. The most popular theories for many years were those that presupposed various electrical and magnetic fluids, which could be collected, conducted, dispersed and otherwise controlled. In 1867, the eminent English mathematician, Clerk Maxwell, proposed the theory that electrical and magnetic phenomena were simply peculiar motions of the ether, bearing definite relationship to light waves. Later researches, one result of which is the now famous Roentgen or X-rays, have tended to confirm Maxwell's theory. A recent text-book on physics, of unquestioned authority,[A] states that the ether theory of electricity and magnetism is now susceptible of direct demonstration; and another eminent authority frankly states that "when we explain the nature of electricity, we explain it by a motion of the luminiferous ether."[B]
[Footnote A: Lehrbuch der Physik, Riecke, (1896), 2ter Band, p. 315.]
[Footnote B: Popular Lectures and Addresses, Kelvin (1891) Vol. 1, page 334.]
Other recent discoveries have hinted at the possibility of matter itself being only the result of peculiar forms of this all-pervading substance, the luminiferous ether. The properties of the element radium, and other radioactive elements, as at present understood, suggest the possibility of a better understanding of the nature of the ether, and of its relation to the world of phenomena.
[Sidenote: The existence of the ether is a certainty of science.]
That the present knowledge of the world of science compels a faith in an all-pervading substance, of marvelous properties, and of intimate relationship to all forms of energy, is shown by the following quotations from Lord Kelvin, who is generally regarded as the world's greatest physicist: "The luminferous ether, that is the only substance we are confident of in dynamics. One thing we are sure of, and that is the reality and substantiality of the luminiferous ether." "What can this luminiferous ether be? It is something that the planets move through with the greatest ease. It permeates our air; it is nearly in the same condition, so far as our means of judging are concerned, in our air and in the interplanetary space." "You may regard the existence of the luminiferous ether as a reality of science." "It is matter prodigiously less dense than air—of such density as not to produce the slightest resistance to any body going through it."[A]
[Footnote A: Kelvin's Lectures, Vol. 1, pp. 317, 334, 336, 354.]
The theory of the ether is one of the most helpful assumptions of modern science. By its aid the laws of energy have been revealed. There is at the present time no grander or more fundamental doctrine in science than that of the ether. The nature of the ether is, of course, far from being clearly understood, but every discovery in science demonstrates that the hypothetical ether stands for an important reality of nature. Together with the doctrines of the indestructibility of matter and energy, the doctrine of the ether welds and explains all the physical phenomena of the universe.
Joseph Smith, in a revelation received on December 27, 1832, wrote:
[Sidenote: Joseph Smith taught space is filled with a substance comparable to the ether of science.]
"The light which now shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space. The light which is in all things: which is the law by which all things are governed: even the power of God."[A]
[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants, section 88:11-13.]
This quotation gives undoubted evidence of the prophet's belief that space is filled with some substance which bears important relations to all natural phenomena. The word substance is used advisedly; for in various places in the writings of Joseph Smith, light, used as above in a general sense, means spirit,[A] and "all spirit is matter, but it is more fine and pure."[B]
[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants, 84:45.]
[Footnote B: Ibid, 131:7.]
True, the passage above quoted does not furnish detailed explanation of the Prophet's view concerning the substance filling all space, but it must be remembered that it is simply an incidental paragraph in a chapter of religious instruction. True, also, the Prophet goes farther than some modern scientists, when he says that this universal substance bears a controlling relation to all things; yet, when it is recalled that eminent, sober students have suggested that the facts of science make it possible to believe that matter itself is simply a phenomenon of the universal ether, the statement of the "Mormon" prophet seems very reasonable. The paragraph already quoted is not an accidental arrangement of words suggesting an idea not intended by the prophet, for in other places, he presents the idea of an omnipresent substance binding all things together. For instance, in speaking of the controlling power of the universe he says:
"He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things."[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid, 88:41.]
That Joseph Smith does not here have in mind an omnipresent God, is proved by the emphatic doctrine that God is personal and cannot be everywhere present.[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid, 130:22.]
Lest it be thought that the words are forced, for argument's sake, to give the desired meaning, it may be well to examine the views of some of the persons to whom the Prophet explained in detail the meanings of the statements in the revelations which he claimed to have received from God.
Parley P. Pratt, who, as a member of the first quorum of apostles, had every opportunity of obtaining the Prophet's views on any subject, wrote in considerable fullness on the subject of the Holy Spirit, or the light of truth:
"As the mind passes the boundaries of the visible world, and enters upon the confines of the more refined and subtle elements, it finds itself associated with certain substances in themselves invisible to our gross organs, but clearly manifested to our intellect by their tangible operations and effects." "The purest, most refined and subtle of all these substances—is that substance called the Holy Spirit." "It is omnipresent." "It is in its less refined particles, the physical light which reflects from the sun, moon and stars, and other substances; and by reflection on the eye makes visible the truths of the outward world."[A]
[Footnote A: Key to Theology, 5th ed., pp. 38-41.]
Elder C. W. Penrose, an accepted writer on Mormon doctrine, writes, "It is by His Holy Spirit, which permeates all things, and is the life and light of all things, that Deity is everywhere present. * * By that agency God sees and knows and governs all things."[A]
[Footnote A: Rays of Living Light, No. 2, p. 3.]
Such quotations, from the men intimately associated or acquainted with the early history of the Church, prove that Joseph Smith taught in clearness the doctrine that a subtle form of matter, call it ether or Holy Spirit, pervades all space; that all phenomena of nature, including, specifically, heat, light and electricity, are definitely connected with this substance. He taught much else concerning this substance which science will soon discover, but which lies without the province of this paper to discuss.
By the doctrine of the ether, it is made evident all the happenings in the universe are indelibly inscribed upon the record of nature. A word is spoken. The air movements that it causes disturbs the ether. The ether waves radiate into space and can never die. Anywhere, with the proper instrument, one of the waves may be captured, and the spoken word read. That is the simple method of wireless telegraphy. It is thus that all our actions shall be known on the last great day. By the ether, or the Holy Spirit as named by the Prophet, God holds all things in His keeping. His intelligent will radiates into space, to touch whomsoever it desires. He who is tuned aright can read the message, flashed across the ether ocean, by the Almighty. Thus, also, God, who is a person, filling only a portion of space is, by His power carried by the ether, everywhere present.
The ether of science though material is essentially different from the matter composing the elements. So, also, in Mormon theology, is the Holy Spirit different from the grosser elements. In science there is a vast distinction between the world of the elements, and that of the ether; in theology, there is an equally great difference between the spiritual and material worlds. Though the theology of Joseph Smith insists that immaterialism is an absurdity, yet it permits no overlapping of the earthly and the spiritual.
[Sidenote: Joseph Smith stated the existence of a universe-filling substance before science had generally accepted it.]
It must not be overlooked that the broad statement of this doctrine was made by Joseph Smith, at least as early as 1832, at a time when the explanation of light phenomena on the hypothesis of a universal ether was just beginning to find currency among learned men; and many years before the same hypothesis was accepted in explaining the phenomena of heat and electricity.
The idea of an influence pervading the universe is not of itself new. Poets and philosophers of all ages have suggested it in a vague, hesitating manner, without connecting it with the phenomena of nature, but burdening it with the greatest absurdity of religion or philosophy, that of immaterialism. Joseph Smith said the doctrine had been taught him by God, and gave it to the world unhesitatingly and rationally. The men of science, to whom Joseph Smith appears only as an imposter, and who know nothing of his writings, have later discovered the truth for themselves, and incorporated it in their books of learning.
Had Joseph Smith been the clever imposter that some claim he was, he probably would not have dealt in any way with the theories of the material world, at least would not have claimed revelations laying down physical laws; had he been the stupid fool, others tell us he was, his mind would not have worried itself with the fundamental problems of nature.
However that may be, it is certain that Joseph Smith, in the broad and rational statement of the existence of an omnipresent, material though subtle substance, anticipated the workers in science. In view of that fact, it is not improbable that at some future time, when science shall have gained a wider view, the historian of the physical sciences will say that Joseph Smith, the clear-sighted, first stated correctly the fundamental physical doctrine of the universal ether.