Sir Oliver Lodge goes to the extreme of pinning his faith in the
reality of this ether rather than in that of matter. Witness the
following statement he made recently before a New York audience:
"To my mind the ether of space is a substantial reality with
extraordinarily perfect properties, with an immense amount of energy
stored up in it, with a constitution which we must discover, but a
substantial reality far more impressive than that of matter. Empty
space, as we call it, is full of ether, but it makes no appeal to
our senses. The appearance is as if it were nothing. It is the most
important thing in the material universe. I believe that matter
is a modification of ether, a very porous substance, a thing more
analogous to a cobweb or the Milky Way or something very slight and
unsubstantial, as compared to ether."
And again:
"The properties of ether seem to be perfect. Matter is less so; it has
friction and elasticity. No imperfection has been discovered in the
ether space. It doesn't wear out; there is no dissipation of energy;
there is no friction. Ether is material, yet it is not matter; both
are substantial realities in physics, but it is the ether of space
that holds things together and acts as a cement. My business is to
call attention to the whole world of etherealness of things, and I
have made it a subject of thirty years' study, but we must admit that
there is no getting hold of ether except indirectly."
"I consider the ether of space," says Lodge, in conclusion, "the one
substantial thing in the universe." And Lodge is certainly entitled
to his opinion.