Luminiferous aether by Ciro Santilli 40 Updated 2025-07-16
Can you just imagine what if luminiferous aether was one single fixed rigid body? This is apparently what Maxwell believed, Subtle is the Lord by Abraham Pais (1982) page 111 quoting his entry to Encyclopedia Britannica:
There can be no doubt that the interplanetary and interstellar spaces are not empty but are occupied by a material substance or body, which is certainly the largest, and probably the most uniform, body of which we have any knowledge.
Then it would provide a natural space coordinate for the entire universe!
Apparently Einstein was the first to completely say: let's just screw this aether thing completely then, it's getting too complicated, and we don't really need it. As Wikipedia puts it well, in very unencyclopedic tone[ref]: Aether fell to Occam's razor.
Aleksandr Aleksandrov (1912–2001) was a prominent Russian mathematician known for his significant contributions to various areas of mathematics, particularly in topology and geometry. He is most noted for his work in the field of general topology and for his contributions to the theory of convex polyhedra. One of his key achievements was the development of the concept of Alexandrov spaces, which generalizes some properties of geometric spaces, particularly in relation to curvature and metric spaces.
Pentagon, in the context of computers and technology, often refers to a specific computer architecture or a computational model. However, it appears that you may be referring to one of the following: 1. **Pentagon (the building)**: The Pentagon, located in Arlington, Virginia, is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. It has an extensive amount of computer systems and networks that support military operations and logistics.
Aleksei Pogorelov could refer to various individuals, as the name may not be widely recognized in public discourse. If you are referring to a specific person, context, or field (such as science, arts, sports, etc.
Nikolai Kapitonovich Nikolski was a prominent Soviet and Russian mathematician known for his contributions to various fields, including analysis, function theory, and complex analysis. Born on April 29, 1898, and passing away on October 20, 1979, Nikolski's work particularly focused on topics such as approximation theory, operator theory, and the study of analytic functions.
As of my last update in October 2023, Gregory Garibian does not appear to be a widely recognized figure in public domains such as politics, entertainment, or academia. It's possible that he could be a private individual or a figure who has gained prominence after my last update.
Leonid Yatsenko does not appear to be a widely recognized public figure or concept as of my last knowledge update in October 2023. It is possible that he may be an individual known in specific local contexts or in certain professional fields, but there may not be significant information available about him in broader public discourse.
Maria Orbeli was a notable figure in the field of physiology and a prominent scientist in the early to mid-20th century. She made significant contributions to our understanding of various physiological processes, with a focus on the nervous system and sensory perception. Her work is particularly recognized in the context of Russian and Soviet scientific research.
Mikhail Eremets is a prominent Russian physicist known for his research in the fields of condensed matter physics, materials science, and high-pressure physics. He has made significant contributions to the understanding of the properties of materials under extreme conditions, particularly in relation to superconductivity and hydrogen under high pressure. Eremets is associated with various institutions, including the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany and has published numerous influential papers in scientific journals.
Mikhail Mikheyev is a professional ice hockey player from Russia. He was born on December 8, 1994, in Moscow. Mikheyev is known for playing as a forward and has played in various leagues, including the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and the National Hockey League (NHL). In the KHL, he gained recognition for his skills and performance, eventually transitioning to the NHL, where he joined the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ubay Orifov might not be widely recognized as a notable figure or topic in mainstream media or academic sources. If you can provide more context or details, I'd be happy to help you with more specific information. It could be a name, brand, or a term relevant to a particular field that isn't well-documented. Please provide additional details if possible!
"Spanish statisticians" typically refers to individuals from Spain who specialize in the field of statistics, which includes the collection, analysis, interpretation, presentation, and organization of data. These statisticians can work in various sectors, including academia, government, health, finance, and industry. Spain has a rich tradition in the field of mathematics and statistics, and many Spanish statisticians contribute to both theoretical and applied research.
Spanish women mathematicians have made significant contributions to the field of mathematics throughout history and in contemporary times. Here are a few notable figures: 1. **Emmy Noether (1882-1935)**: While she was born in Germany, she spent part of her career in Spain due to the political situation in Germany. Noether is known for her groundbreaking work in abstract algebra and theoretical physics. Her work has had a lasting impact on both mathematics and the sciences.
Mental rotation is a cognitive process that involves the ability to manipulate and rotate mental representations of two- or three-dimensional objects in one's mind. It is a key aspect of spatial reasoning and visual imagery, allowing individuals to visualize what an object would look like from different angles or orientations. Research on mental rotation often involves tasks where participants are asked to determine whether two presented figures are the same object rotated in space or two different objects.
The Markov Chain Tree Theorem is a result in probability theory that provides a method for calculating the probabilities of certain paths or transitions in a Markov chain by leveraging the structure of a tree. Specifically, it deals with the concept of expressing the stationary distribution of a Markov chain in terms of the transition probabilities and a tree structure, which can simplify computations and enhance understanding of the dynamics of the chain.
The Frölicher spectral sequence is a tool in the field of differential geometry, particularly useful in the study of differentiable manifolds and their associated sheaf-theoretic or cohomological structures. It provides a way to compute the sheaf cohomology associated with the global sections of a sheaf of differential forms on a smooth manifold.
A **C-normal subgroup** is a concept from group theory, a branch of mathematics that studies the algebraic structures known as groups. A subgroup \( N \) of a group \( G \) is termed a **C-normal subgroup** if it satisfies certain conditions related to its normality.
The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) is an instrument aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, designed to study the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum of cosmic objects. Launched in 2009 during the servicing mission STS-125, COS significantly enhances Hubble's capability to observe the universe's formation and evolution.
EXPRES, short for "Express Purpose-Driven Research for Earth Science," is a collaborative initiative aimed at addressing various challenges in Earth sciences through research and innovation. This program typically focuses on integrating cutting-edge technology, data analysis, and interdisciplinary approaches to enhance our understanding of Earth's systems, climate change, natural resources, and environmental sustainability. However, there could be other contexts or meanings associated with the acronym EXPRES in different fields, such as engineering, technology, or even specific projects or products.
The Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS) aboard the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is an instrument designed to study the composition of the Martian surface and to assess the planet's geology and mineralogy. Launched on April 7, 2001, and arriving at Mars on October 24, 2001, the Mars Odyssey orbiter carries the GRS as one of its primary scientific instruments.

Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project

Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
We have two killer features:
  1. topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculus
    Articles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
    • a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
    • a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
    This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.
    Figure 1.
    Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page
    . View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivative
  2. local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:
    This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
    Figure 2.
    You can publish local OurBigBook lightweight markup files to either https://OurBigBook.com or as a static website
    .
    Figure 3.
    Visual Studio Code extension installation
    .
    Figure 4.
    Visual Studio Code extension tree navigation
    .
    Figure 5.
    Web editor
    . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally.
    Video 3.
    Edit locally and publish demo
    . Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension.
    Video 4.
    OurBigBook Visual Studio Code extension editing and navigation demo
    . Source.
  3. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook-media/master/feature/x/hilbert-space-arrow.png
  4. Infinitely deep tables of contents:
    Figure 6.
    Dynamic article tree with infinitely deep table of contents
    .
    Descendant pages can also show up as toplevel e.g.: ourbigbook.com/cirosantilli/chordate-subclade
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact