LITMIR.BIZ

      CHAPTER VII

       THE PARADOX OF SCIENCE

       Table of Content

      IN the days of the ancients, when the philosophers found themselves unable to account for any particular class of phenomena, they bundled it together and referred it to a suppositious Something that they called "The Ether." Finding this an easy way to get rid of vexatious questions, they fell into the custom—and the habit grew upon them. Soon there were a dozen or more different kind of Ethers in vogue, each explaining something else—the "something else," by the way, being things that Science now feels that it understands pretty well. These Ethers grew to be like the various "Vapors" of the ancients—a dignified term for "We don't know"—a respectable road for retreat under the semblance of an advance.

      These Ethers became a scientific scandal, and caused a lax mode of thinking among students of those times. And so they were finally abolished and relegated to the scrap pile of Science, where they lay for many centuries until a comparatively recent period, when at least one of them was hauled forth, dusted, freshened up a little, and placed upon its old pedestal. This revamped Ether, referred to, was the "Ether of Aristotle." Aristotle, as we know, was a famous Greek philosopher who lived about 350 B.C.—about 2250 years ago. He was a good man and a celebrated philosopher, but was somewhat deficient in scientific knowledge. Although he knew many things, and uttered many wise thoughts, he was under the impression that the breath of Man entered the heart instead of the lungs—that the back part of the skull was empty, and so on. He was without the advantages of a modern training—which, was not his fault, however.

      Well, Aristotle conceived the idea of an Universal Ether, which he thought pervaded all space, and with which he accounted for the passage of light from the sun and stars; the movements of the planets, and various other physical phenomena. It is not known whether Aristotle really believed in this Ether, or whether he merely used it as a speculative hypothesis, following the Ether Habit of his contemporaries. At any rate, his theory served its purpose—lived, flourished, declined and died—at least seemed to be dead. But its corpse was resurrected in modern times, and used to account for divers things.

      This does not mean that modern thinkers really "believe" in the Universal Ether—they merely assume it as a working hypothesis until something better is offered.

      Its principal modern use is to account for the transmission of Light from the Sun and Stars to the Earth. It was held that a thing could not act "where it was not," and so it became necessary to account for the transmission either by the theory that small particles of substance were thrown off from the Sun, and travelled to the Earth, or else that there was some medium of communication by means of vibrations, etc. Newton held to the first theory, but his hypothesis went down before the Ether advocates, who advanced the "wave-theory," although it seems that, like Banquo's ghost, Newton's theory will not stay down, and is now taking on a new lease of life, owing to the discovery of the Corpuscle and Radiant Matter.

      The Wave-theory philosophers asserted that the Light and Heat of the Sun were thrown off in the shape of Force or Energy, and transformed into "waves" in and of a hypothetical Ether (Aristotle's own), which waves were carried to the Earth, where, meeting Substance, they were again transformed into Heat and Light.

      It was known that Light and Heat travelled at the rate of 184,000 miles per second, and therefore the "waves" of the Ether were considered to have that speed. The Wave-theory seemed to fit the facts of the case better than the Newtonian Theory of Corpuscles, although the latter has always been considered as better explaining certain phenomena than the new theory. And so the Ether Wave became generally accepted, and remains so to-day, although recent discoveries are causing a disturbance in the scientific camp regarding the question.

      Later it was discovered that the Electricity travelled at the same rate as Light and Heat, and the Wave-of-the-Ether theory was thus thought to have additional verification, and Electricity came under the Law and remained there until the Electron discovery, which is causing much disturbance, among those interested in the study of Electricity.

      Briefly stated, the theory of the Universal Ether is this:

      That pervading all Space in the Universe—not only between planets, stars and suns, but also "filling in the cracks" between molecules, and atoms as well—there is a subtle Substance in and through which the waves of Light, Heat, Electricity and Magnetism travel at the rate of 184,000 miles per second. This Substance is said to be "Matter that is not Matter"—in fact, Science does not venture to say just what it is, although it freely states just what some of its properties must be, and, alas! these properties are most contradictory and opposite to each other, as we shall see as we proceed.

      This Universal Ether is purely hypothetical. It has been called a "necessity of Science"—something assumed for the purpose of explaining or accounting for certain phenomena. It is undemonstrated and unproved—in fact, may truthfully be said to be undemonstrable and unprovable. Some have gone so far as to say that its claimed properties and qualities render it "unthinkable" as well. And yet, Science finds itself compelled to assume that the Ether, or "something like it" exists, or else cease speculating about it. It belongs to the realm of pure theory, and yet, many writers treat it as if it were a positively demonstrated and proven fact. Let us examine into the nature of Science's problem, and her attempted solution, and the trouble arising therefrom.

      Light travels at the rate of 184,000 miles a second. Remember, that Light and Heat are that which we call by those names only when considered in connection with Substance. According to the theory, Light in the Sun's atmosphere is transformed into a Light-wave of the Ether on its travels to the earth, and only when the "wave" comes in contact with the Substance on the earth's body or atmosphere does it become again transformed into Light as we know it. In its travels through space it meets with no Substance, and has nothing to "turn into light"—consequently Space (between worlds) is in a state of absolute darkness. The same is true of Heat, and inter-world Space is absolutely cold, although passing through it are countless heat-waves of great intensity, which, later on, will be transformed into Heat when they reach the Substance, the earth. The same is true of Electricity and Magnetism.

      Although the Ether, as we have seen, is a purely theoretical substance, yet Science has found it reasonable to conclude that it must be possessed of certain attributes in order to account for certain known facts. Thus, it is said to be frictionless, else the worlds, suns and planets

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