Article ID: CBB000641823

Fizeau's Research Program on Ether Drag: A Long Quest for a Publishable Experiment (2005)

unapi

Hippolyte Fizeaursquos research program on ether drag consisted of a sequence of optical experiments and theoretical considerations aimed at clarifying the interaction between the ether and moving matter to reveal the motion of the Earth through the ether. In addition to Fizeaursquos published papers, my reconstruction of his research program is based on his unpublished drafts, sketches, and experimental data.These reveal an increasingly complex interplay between his experimental setups,unexpected results, and theoretical convictions. I argue that publishing is an integral part of experimental research rather than a secondary activity undertaken after the ldquotruerdquo laboratory research has been completed. Accordingly, Fizeaursquos research program can best be understood as a long quest for a publishable experiment. I show that to Fizeau, to be publishable meant achieving an expected positive experimental result.This publication strategy deeply influenced the design of his experiments as well as what he and his audience regarded as successful experimental research. Key words. Hippolyte Fizeau - Léon Foucault - François Arago - Augustin Fresnel - Jacques Babinet - ether theory - stellar aberration - optics of moving bodies - publication

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Authors & Contributors
Frercks, Jan
Klein, Ursula
D'Agostino, Salvo
Chalmers, Alan Francis
Wisniak, Jaime
Wills, Ian
Concepts
Ether
Physics
Experiments and experimentation
Methodology of science; scientific method
Chemistry
Light
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
17th century
Places
France
Ireland
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