Aether and Gravitation

by William George Hooper

We have, therefore, to postulate for the Aether such motions as shall fulfil all the Rules of Philosophy, that is, shall be simple in conception, shall be in harmony with our experience and observation, and which shall satisfactorily account for the phenomena sought to be explained, that is, the universal Law of Gravitation; for it is by the properties, combined with the motions of the Aether, that the physical cause of Gravitation is alone to be explained.

Let us revert to the question of a stationary Aether for a moment or two, and let us ask ourselves, where is the evidence for such an assumption? Has the sun ever ceased to shine, or to send its light-waves with their enormous velocity speeding through the solar system? So far as experience and observation go, I have never read of any record of such a fact, or that light-waves have ceased to proceed from the sun and fill the solar system with Aether-waves.

Not only is this true of the sun, but it is equally true of every planet and satellite, every meteor or comet, every star and sun that exist or dwell in this aetherial medium; for, as has already been shown ([Art. 49]), every body emits Aether-waves, and these waves spread out in all directions in a spherical form.

The truth is, that the universal Aether is in eternal motion, and that motion forms the physical life of the universe. If it were possible to destroy the motion, then the whole fabric of the universe would fall to pieces, and the beauty, order, and harmony of the celestial mechanism would be replaced by disorder, confusion, and ultimate ruin. Take any analogy of Nature, and see what such an analogy teaches us. Look at any planet, sun, or star. Do we find any one of these stationary or at rest? Why from the smallest meteorite or satellite, to the largest star that shines in the firmament of heaven, there is nothing but motion; each satellite, planet, sun, and star moving on and on, ever and ever through the countless ages of time until its course is run and its existence ended. But rest, never! Such a thing as rest is unknown in the entire universe, whether it be in the atomic systems of matter, or the systems of stars and suns that form the universe of worlds.

Take another illustration--that of the ocean! Is that ever at rest, with its unceasing wave and tidal motion? Has the reader ever stood on the shore and seen the ocean when it has been absolutely still, or when the tide has ceased to flow? Such a possibility is almost absurd to contemplate. The same argument applies to the air with its regular flow of winds. Now in regard to the aetherial and universal medium, there are just as regular motions as the flowing of the tide round the earth, or the revolving of a satellite round a planet, or a planet round the sun.

And what is as important, all the motions can be as satisfactorily explained and accounted for from the physical standpoint, as the flow of the tide, or the revolution of a planet.

Year in and year out, the motions of the Aether remain the same, governed by the same laws and producing the same effects. Age after age, the Aether has been moving, producing by its various motions the continuity of that beauty, order, and harmony that govern the universe as a whole.

I have already indicated in [Art. 45] the effect of Gravitation on the Aether surrounding each satellite, or planet, or star, or sun. As each satellite, or planet, or star moves through the universal Aether, it takes with it its surrounding Aether as indicated in [Art. 45], in the same way that each planet or sun takes with it its own associated atmosphere, which is held in contact with it by the self-same force of Gravitation.

In addition to this motion of the aetherial atmosphere through space, there are other motions of this same gravitating Aether that have to be taken into consideration, before a complete and adequate conception of all the motions of the Aether can be arrived at.

I do not intend, however, at this stage to go fully into such motions, but rather wish to lead up to them from a consideration of hypotheses put forward by such men as Rankine, Challis, Maxwell, Lord Kelvin, McCullagh, and Helmholtz, and from a consideration of such hypotheses in the realm of heat, light, and electricity to be able to form a scientific conception of the proper motions of the Aether, as well as a philosophical one.