Return of the Ether: When Theory and Reality Collide Hardback - 1999 - 1st Edition

Is modern atomic theory flawed? What can explain the curious, well-documented missing pieces in quantum mechanics? Delving deeply into the molecular framework of subatomic particles, Dr. Sid Deutsch, an electrical engineer with a scientist's keen interest in the building blocks of the universe, makes sense out quantum weirdness by resurrecting a long-buried 19th century scientific concept -- the Ether.Deutsch weaves a scientific detective story as profound as Hawking's A Brief History of Time, yet as fascinating and easy to understand as an episode of Star Trek! Although 20th century quantum mechanics changed the way we looked at the universe and the ether was abandoned, strange gaps in quantum theory remain. Only the 140-year-old idea of the ether, brought up to date to to fit modern theory, can explain these gaps.Is the universe really a vacuum? Do large bodies such as the Earth carry with them their own ether as they hurtle through space? Dr. Deutsch's controversial -- yet logical and plausible -- speculations add credibility to the growing scientific movement that views the return of the ether as a long-needed explanation of blips in current cosmological theories.