Potters, Jan (2024) Going Beyond the World of Atoms: Heinrich Hertz and the Electromagnetic Worldview. A History of Physics: Phenomena, Ideas and Mechanisms. pp. 331-359.
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Abstract
In this paper, I argue that, contrary to what many historians have claimed, the hidden-masses mechanics introduced by Heinrich Hertz in his Principles did inspire reflections within fundamental physics concerning the role played by the ether. This occurred in particular in the context of the electromagnetic worldview, a program for the reduction of the whole of physics to electromagnetism that emerged a few years after Principles was published. This worldview was, however, short-lived, as it was soon more or less replaced by the theory of relativity. In the second part of the paper, I will discuss how Albert Einstein and Max Planck formulated the relativistic response to the electromagnetic worldview. This will then lead me to suggest that, in a sense, this relativistic response, even though it differed profoundly from the electromagnetic worldview, could equally well be characterized as Hertzian.
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| Item Type: | Published Article or Volume | ||||||
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| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Theory Change |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Jan Potters | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 08 Oct 2025 11:11 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 08 Oct 2025 11:11 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 26860 | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | A History of Physics: Phenomena, Ideas and Mechanisms | ||||||
| Publisher: | Springer Nature | ||||||
| Official URL: | https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-03... | ||||||
| DOI or Unique Handle: | https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26174-9_15 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Theory Change |
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| Date: | 20 September 2024 | ||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 331-359 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26860 |
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