Aether and Gravitation

by William George Hooper

Of course we must not forget that all these revolve round the sun, and the question may suggest itself to the reader's mind, if such a result is possible. I shall prove later on, that according to Maxwell such an event is possible, but at present we will consider them stationary.

Now let us see how such a conception compares with our hypothesis of a gravitative Aether. If Aether be gravitative, then the sun must have an attraction for the Aether, and its aetherial field would stretch out into space as far as Neptune at least.

So that it can readily be seen that the aetherial field of the sun's attractive power coincides with the electric field which the sun possesses as an electrified body. Again, if Aether be gravitative, then all the planets must also have an aetherial field, which will be co-extensive with their electric field also. The same principle applies to each of the satellites, with the result that they too will possess an aetherial field which will be equal in extent and limit to their electric field.

As the satellites revolve around their primary planet taking their electric fields with them, so the planets with their associated satellites revolve around the sun taking their electric and aetherial fields with them. Thus we get a glimpse, though at this point very shadowy and indistinct, of those motions of the universal Aether, which help to constitute the harmony, beauty, and order of the universe. We have seen, therefore, that as the sun is an electrified body, so all the planets and satellites are electrified bodies also, each possessing its own field, with all that such a field implies.

We shall find that such a conception is borne out by experience and observation, when we come to deal with the Earth as a magnet; because we shall afterwards learn that the Earth is an electro-magnet, possessing its magnetic field, which is co-existent and equipollent with its electric field.

[27] Exp. Res., 1297, 1298.

[28] Par. 1298.

Art. 82. Energy of the Field.--We have seen in [Art. 79] that every electrified body has an electric field. We have further learned, in carrying the electro-magnetic theory of light to its logical conclusion, that all the planets and satellites together with the sun must be electrified bodies, each possessing its electric field.

We have now to determine the effect of such a truth from its dynamical aspect upon the bodies within the field, that is to say, we have to consider the energy of such electric fields, and endeavour to find out the effect of such energy upon other bodies within that field. Maxwell,[29] in his introduction to a paper on “The Dynamical Theory of the Electro-magnet Field,” writes on the matter thus: “It appears therefore that certain phenomena in electricity and magnetism lead to the same conclusion as those of optics, namely, that there is an aetherial medium pervading all bodies and modified only in degree by their presence; that the parts of this medium are capable of being set in motion by electric currents and magnets; that this motion is communicated from one part of the medium to another by forces arising from the connection of these parts; that under the action of these forces, there is a certain yielding depending upon the elasticity of these connections; and that therefore energy in two different forms may exist in the medium, the one form being the actual energy of motion of its parts, and the other being the potential energy stored up in the connections in virtue of their elasticity.”

The two forms of energy he gives us in his work on Magnetism and Electricity, where, in the quotation already given in [Art. 79], he states them to be electro-static and electro-kinetic energy, while in paragraph 792 of the same work he adds: “The intrinsic energy of the medium is half electro-static and half electro-kinetic, that is, half is due to electricity and half is due to magnetism.”