Aether and Gravitation

by William George Hooper

We saw in [Art. 10] that the centripetal force was really none other than the Attraction of Gravitation, in that it always acted to a centre, and in no other way, and therefore by the centripetal force for the present we must understand is meant the attractive power of Gravitation.

Afterwards, when it has been demonstrated that the centripetal force and the new aetherial centrifugal force can account for all celestial phenomena, then we shall be in a position to show what the physical cause of the centripetal force is.

Let us again refer to the centripetal force, so that we may see exactly what its governing conditions are. In [Art. 18] we learned that this force might be thus expressed: “Every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force whose direction is that of a line joining their centres of gravity, and whose magnitude is directly as the product of their masses, and inversely as the square of the distance between them.” Now we have seen from the previous Art. that the centrifugal force due to the pressure of the Aether medium is the exact counterpart of this, in every way, so that if we combine the two, we get the complete statement of the universal law which governs all matter, and which we may define as follows--

“Every particle in the universe attracts and repels every other particle in the universe with a force whose direction is that of a line joining their centres of gravity, and whose magnitude is directly as the product of their masses, and inversely as the square of the distance between them.” This complete law, however, only holds good when the two forces are in equilibrium.

With this conception of the universal law which governs all matter, the harmony and stability of the universe becomes possible from the physical standpoint. Apart from this conjoint working of the two forces or motions, a physical explanation of Universal Gravitation is impossible, as with one force operating only throughout the universe, ultimate stability is inconceivable, and the harmony of the spheres might at any time be suddenly destroyed.

With this conception of the universal law which governs all matter, the great Law of Gravitation is brought into harmony with all experience and observation. Look where we will, or at what we will, there we find forces possessing a dual character, as we have already seen proved. Professor Tyndall, as we have already learned ([Art. 63]), definitely states that the stability of atomic systems is preserved by the existence and operation of two forces, one attractive and the other repulsive, and what is true of the atomic world is equally true of solar or stellar worlds. Thus for the first time in this respect, our philosophy agrees with our experience, and the true relation of the centrifugal force or motion to the centripetal force is made manifest. So that, wherever in the solar system the centripetal force or Gravitation Attraction operates, there, with exactly equal intensity and power, the aetherial centrifugal force operates, at the respective mean distances of the planets and satellites, where the two forces are in equilibrium.

If it were possible to conceive of a stationary solar system, then, by the conjoint working of the two forces, it would be equally possible to conceive of perfect stability and harmony existing between the respective planets and satellites of that system while stationary.

Such a conception is altogether impossible in the present state of Philosophy, as the stability of the system, with the old view of the Centrifugal Force, is entirely dependent upon the motions of the respective bodies in that system; and if such orbital motions could be stayed, then the only physical conception possible would be, that every planet and satellite, planetoid and meteor within the attractive force of the central body, the sun, would be slowly but surely drawn to a fiery death, as they would all ultimately be attracted and swallowed up by the sun.

Thus we learn, that while the sun is the centre of a centripetal force, which ever operates far and wide throughout space, it is equally the centre of a repulsive or centrifugal force or motion which also operates co-extensively and co-equally with the former.

Not only so, but every planet and satellite, nay every particle and every atom, while it is the centre of a centripetal force, is also the centre of a repulsive force, as pointed out by Professor Tyndall, which force is due in each and every case to the pressure of the aetherial atmosphere which surrounds the atom or molecule, satellite or planet. Thus the physical conception of heat in its effect on molecules having a repulsive force ([Art. 63]) is confirmed, and that that force is due to the pressure of the Aether is also confirmed by subsequent investigations into the phenomena of light and electricity, by which we have arrived at our physical conception of the Universal Centrifugal Force.