Aether and Gravitation

by William George Hooper

Thus the key to the physical conception of the Universe is to be found, and alone found, in that beauty of order, and harmony of motion, which are so inseparably associated with the varied forms of matter, graduating through a series of units or atoms, each with its dual nature complete in itself, through a series of minor entities termed elements, which in their aggregations form meteorites, satellites, planets, suns and stars, and systems of stars and oceans of suns and stars, until all are united into one ultimate unity where all are blended into one complete and perfect whole; the whole of the universal fabric being held together in its mechanical order and beauty by the electro-magnetic Aether. Then in the very centre of the Universe there dwells that Supreme Being whom we call God, who is at once the one real fountain and source of all the light and life of the Universe itself. For it is His universal Spirit that moulds and fashions the plastic matter into the many forms which it assumes, and uses the various modes of motion, as heat, light, electricity and magnetism, as instruments to build up and erect in all their beauty and harmony the innumerable systems that flood immensity and space.

For if there be a centre of gravity to an atomic system, and a centre of gravity to a planetary system, and a centre of gravity to a solar system, then there is also a centre of gravity to a group of systems, even to a constellation, or a galaxy; otherwise our philosophy relative to the centres of gravity of masses fails in its application to wider phenomena of an exactly similar kind.

Thus, if there is a centre of gravity to a galaxy, even to the Milky Way itself, then, going one step further, with a faith that laughs at scientific data and leaps beyond the narrow bounds of pure reasoning, we affirm that there must even be a centre of gravity to the entire Universe. Now let me ask the reader, What can be more fitting, more appropriate, more reasonable than to infer that the centre of gravity of the Universe is to be found in that celestial orb or orbs where the throne of God exists and endures, and where ultimately there will be congregated together in perfect felicity the spirits of just men made perfect, not only from our insignificant planet, but all the spirits of all beings from all the planets which in their almost infinite number are circled round their central suns by the electro-magnetic Aether? It is there, in these bright orbs, with their vision and powers spiritualized, quickened and intensified, that all perfected spirits shall look out into space, with increasing wonder, upon the birth and decay of worlds, the evolution and devolution of planets and systems and constellations, and shall watch the continuation and working out of that grand and glorious plan, which alone finds its perfection and its ultimate fulfilment in the wisdom, and power, and glory of the Eternal Spirit of the Living God.

To see if this conception of the Universe is borne out by scientific data, we will now address ourselves more particularly to those fundamental truths which underlie the unity of the Universe.

Art. 124. The Unity of the Universe.--The Unity of the Universe is a dream which has passed before the imagination of many philosophers in by-gone times, and has been a fruitful source of speculation to old-world, as well as more modern philosophers. The researches of such living scientists as Sir William Crookes, Professor J. J. Thomson and others, have, however, made this dream come within the range of practical research and direct experiment. Professor J. J. Thomson believes that it is possible to break off from an atom, a part which is only 1/1000 part of the whole, and these infinitesimal parts he has called corpuscles, which he considers are the carriers of the electric current.

If, therefore, it can be philosophically proved that the hypothesis of an atomic, gravitating, and condensing Aether can satisfactorily account for the physical existence of all atoms, and therefore of all matter, the dream of old-world philosophers will be helped on its way to a successful realization.

We have already suggested, that nebulae are formed out of the condensation of the electro-magnetic Aether that fills the Universe; and as that nebula, according to the Nebular Hypothesis, ultimately resolves itself into a sun, or planet, or satellite, as the case may be, it follows that the condensation of this electro-magnetic Aether forms the basis of all the various elements, as Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen and the other seventy elements of which those bodies are composed. Thus the conclusion that we are compelled to come to in regard to the ultimate nature of matter, in its primordial condition, is, that all matter which exists in its varied forms throughout the entire Universe finds its physical origin and source in the universal electro-magnetic Aether, which is itself atomic, and possesses all the essential properties of matter.

With the conception of the Aether as advanced in this work, this hypothesis is perfectly philosophical and logical. For the conception is simple, in that it supposes one form of matter to spring out of another form, that is, from an aetherial form to gaseous, in a similar manner to that in which a gaseous form changes into a liquid form, that is, by condensation, or a closer drawing together of the aetherial elastic envelopes that surround each atom; each particular gas, as Hydrogen, Nitrogen, or Oxygen, representing different quantities of aetherial condensations, as will be seen in the next article.

The aetherial constitution of matter has received recognition from the hands of such scientists as Lord Kelvin and Dr. Larmor. The latter, in his Aether and Matter, writes on the subject as follows (page 7): “Matter must be constituted of isolated portions, each of which is of necessity a permanent nucleus or singularity in and belonging to the Aether, of some such type as is represented for example by a minute vortex ring in a perfect fluid, or a centre of permanent strain in a rotational elastic medium.” And again on the same page he adds: “It is incumbent on us to recognize an aetherial substratum of matter, in so far as this proves conducive to simplicity and logical consistency in our scheme of physical relations, and helpful towards the discovery of hitherto unnoticed ones.”

Dr. Larmor, as has already been pointed out in [Art. 44], speaks of his aetherial atoms as electrons, which are of two kinds, negative and positive, and of these he states (page 97): “Each electron has an effective mass of aetherial origin, which forms part, and may be the whole of the mass of the matter to which it is attached.”