Reconsidering Maxwell's aether
Duncan W. Shaw · Physics Essays · 2014
In the 19th century, James Clerk Maxwell developed a theory of aether to explain electromagnetic phenomena. In that era, the existence of aether was generally accepted. In the 20th and 21st centuries, science has moved away from the notion of the existence of aether and into the age of photons and quanta. This article suggests that the scientific community revisit the concept of Maxwell’s aether as the fundamental substance that might underlie electromagnetic phenomena. VC 2014 Physics Essays Publication. [http://dx.doi.org/10.4006/0836-1398-27.4.601] Resume: Au 19ieme siecle, James Clerk Maxwell a developpe une theorie de l’ether pour expliquer les phenomenes de l’electromagnetisme. Dans cette ere-la, on acceptait generale‘ment l’existence de l’ether. Durant le 20ieme et le 21ieme siecle la science a bouge de la notion de l’existence de l’ether et dans l’âge des photons et quanta. Cet article suggere que la communaute scientifique revisite a l’ether de Maxwell comme la substance fondamentale qui pourrait soutenir les phenomenes electromagnetiques.