Today’s Podcast

Sorry for the late post. Time is no man’s friend.

Today’s word, aether, comes from a great article about Albert Einstein in the Economist. It is a short, 2500 word, article summarizing the Einstein’s theories of relativity and quantum physics as well their impact on modern physics and cosmology. I strongly recommend reading it.

The word aether appears towards the end of the article. It is a noun that is ancient Greece referred to the air breathed by the gods, “the upper air,” as well as the personification of the sky. Over the centuries it evolved to mean the unknown substance that filled all the empty space in the world. Aristotle included it as a fifth element to make his “nature abhorred a vacuum” theory work.

By the end of the 19th century scientists used the term luminiferous aether to describe the invisible substance that carries light and magnetism. This last meaning inspired Robert Metcalfe to name his new networking technology Ethernet. Odds are pretty good this podcast got to you via Ethernet.

Finally there is the ether from Curious George. A flammable compound of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. It is no longer used as an anesthetic.