The first one refers to the now discredited theory of the luminiferous ether. They are highly technical in nature and not something you could easily describe to your grandmother (unless she had some training in physics). Kelvin is describing two problems with the physics of his time. The second is the Maxwell-Boltzmann doctrine regarding The first came into existence with the undulatory theory of light, and was dealt with by Fresnel and Dr Thomas Young it involved the question, How could the Earth move through an elastic solid, such as essentially is the luminiferous ether? II. ![]() The beauty and clearness of the dynamical theory, which asserts heat and light to be modes of motion, is at present obscured by two clouds. There were two clouds hanging over 19th century physics. In fact, I think he was saying quite the opposite. It is often reported that Michelson got the idea from Kelvin, but there is little evidence to back this claim up.Īt the turn of the century, Kelvin wasn't saying that physics was finished. A similar statement was made twice by the German-American scientist Albert Michelson (1852–1931) as was discussed earlier in this book. This has been attributed to William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824–1907) in an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1900, but I haven't been able to find the primary source. All that remains is more and more precise measurement. There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. Several people are reported to have said something like this They agree with reality to a high degree of accuracy as tested in experiment after experiment.Īt the end of the 19th century, physics appeared to be at an apex. ![]() They are mathematically consistent in the sense that no one rule would ever violate another. They can be used to deliver spacecraft to the ends of the solar system with hyper-pinpoint accuracy. They were used to create the machines that launched two waves of industrial revolution - the first one powered by steam and the second one powered by electric current. ![]() They describe a universe consisting of bodies moving with clockwork predictability on a stage of absolute space and time. Newton's laws of motion and universal gravitation, the laws of conservation of energy and momentum, the laws of thermodynamics, and Maxwell's equations for electricity and magnetism were all more or less nearly complete at the end of the 19th century.
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