Re: Teaching logic is urgent (the only reasonable transformations)

[Stephen Speicher <sjs@COMPBIO.CALTECH.EDU>]

On Thu, 5 Jun 2003, Bob Sciamanda wrote:

> (The only speculative way out is the invention of an intangible
> medium - the ether.  Michaelson-Morley et al kills that!)

The Michelson-Morley experiment failed to detect a _stationary_
ether, but did not alone rule out a partial dragging theory, such
as that advocated by George Stokes, where there is full drag at
the Earth's surface, tapering off to zero at some distance.  The
authors even acknowledged Stokes' theory in the conclusion of
their 1887 paper.

Of course, Michelson himself later disproved the Stokes-type
ether theory in an experiment performed in 1925, A.A. Michelson
and H.G. Gale, "The Effect of the Earth's Rotation on the
Velocity of Light," _Astrophysical Journal_, vol. LXI, Part I,
pp. 137-139, Part II, pp. 140-145, 1925.

However, Lorentz' ether is also fully compatible with the
Michelson-Morley experiment. In fact, the Lorentz Ether
(Electron) Theory is experimentally indistinguishable from
special relativity.

--
Stephen
sjs@compbio.caltech.edu

Ignorance is just a placeholder for knowledge.

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