Re: Reflections on Aether

From: Harry (harald.vanlintel_at_epfl.ch)
Date: 08/31/04 

Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 10:21:53 +0200

"robert j. kolker" <nowhere@nowhere.net> wrote in message
news:2phgfeFl686kU2@uni-berlin.de...
>
>
> Harry wrote:
>
> > Bilge, understanding is not necessarily limited to mathematics...
>
> In physics, the understanding of the mathematics is a necessary
> condition to understanding the physics. If one cannot handle math, he
> cannot do physics. The only exception to this rule I know of if Michael
> Faraday who had hardly a line of math to his name. But his brain was a
> brilliant GUI which could visualize fields.
>
> Bob Kolker

Thanks for the supplement :-)

Indeed, according to Maxwell:
"For instance, Faraday, in his mind's eye, saw lines of force traversing all
space where the mathematicians saw centres of force attracting at a
distance: Farady saw a medium where they saw nothing but distance : Faraday
sought the seat of the phenomena in real actions going on in the medium,
they were satisfied that they had found it in a power of action at a
distance impressed on the electric fluids. [....] I also found that several
of the most fertile methods of research discovered by the mathematicians
could be expressed much better in terms of ideas derived from Faraday than
in their original form." - Treatise of Maxwell, "To the first edition".

Harald

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