Page:A history of the theories of aether and electricity. Whittacker E.T. (1910).pdf/15

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Contents.
xi

CHAPTER VIII.

Maxwell.

Page
Gauss and Riemann on the propagation of electric actions,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
268
Analogies suggested by W. Thomson,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
269
Maxwell's hydrodynamical analogy,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
271
The vector potential,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
273
Linear and rotatory interpretations of magnetism,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
274
Maxwell's mechanical model of the electromagnetic field,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
276
Electric displacement,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
279
Similarity of electric vibrations to those of light,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
281
Connexion of refractive index and specific inductive capacity,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
283
Maxwell's memoir of 1864,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
284
The propagation of electric disturbances in crystals and in metals,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
288
Anomalous dispersion,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
291
The Maxwell-Sellmeier theory of dispersion,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
292
Imperfections of the electromagnetic theory of light,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
295
The theory of L. Lorenz,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
297
Maxwell's theory of stress in the electric field,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
300
The pressure of radiation,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
303
Maxwell's theory of the magnetic rotation of light,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
307

CHAPTER IX.

Models of the Aether.

Analogies in which a rotatory character is attributed to magnetism,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
310
Models in which magnetic force is represented as a linear velocity,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
311
Researches of W. Thomson, Bjerknes, and Leahy, on pulsating and oscillating bodies,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
316
MacCullagh's quasi-elastic solid as a model of the electric medium,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
318
The Tall effect,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
320
Models of Riemann and FitzGerald,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
324
Vortex-atoms,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
326
The vortex-sponge theory of the aether: researches of W. Thomson, FitzGerald, and Hicks,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
327

CHAPTER X.

The Followers of Maxwell.

Helmholtz and H. A. Lorentz supply an electromagnetic theory of reflexion,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
337
Crucial experiments of Helmholtz and Schiller,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
338