The above theory of Relativity absorbed practically the whole of the
electromagnetic theory based on the Maxwell-Lorentz system of field
equations. It combined all the advantages of classic Maxwellian theory
together with an electronic hypothesis. The Lorentz assumption of
polarisation doublets had furnished a satisfactory explanation of the
Fresnelian convection of ether, but in the new theory this is deduced
merely as a consequence of the altered concept of relative velocity. In
addition, the theory of Relativity accepted the results of Michelson and
Morley’s experiments as a definite principle, namely, the principle of
the constancy of the velocity of light, so that there was nothing left
for explanation in the Michelson-Morley experiment. But even more than
all this, it established a single general principle which served to
connect together in a simple coherent and fruitful manner the known
facts of Physics.
The theory of Relativity received direct experimental confirmation in
several directions. Repeated attempts were made to detect the
Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction. Any ordinary physical contraction will
usually have observable physical results; for example, the total
electrical resistance of a conductor will diminish. Trouton and Noble,
Trouton and Rankine, Rayleigh and Brace, and others employed a variety
of different methods to detect the Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction, but
invariably with the same negative results. _Whether there is an ether or
not, uniform velocity with respect to it can never be detected._ This
does not prove that there is no such thing as an ether but certainly
does render the ether entirely superfluous. Universal compensation is
due to a change in local units of length and time, or rather, being
merely different descriptions of the same reality, there is no
compensation at all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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