[Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Sir Oliver Lodge],
Title
[Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Sir Oliver Lodge],
Creator
Date
Identifier
GFF 2/10
Description
Handwritten letter from Sir Oliver Lodge to George F. Fitzgerald, dated 29 February 1880. Lodge discusses scientific ideas regarding electromagnetic propagation and Ether. Lodge notes that he would like to read Fitzgerald's papers. The letter is incomplete. 2pp.
Transcription:
"My dear Fitzgerald,
Many thanks for your kind and prompt reply. I see that I had run against a wrong idea respecting EM propagation. I thought Maxwell talking of its [r?] all through but I see now that it is only of the wave motion which the EM induction considers to be analogue to diffusion or heat conduction which of course has no [?]. I am very glad to have this connected. I should greatly like to see your paper (and any others you can show of yours) for I want to get hold of the EM theory of light as it is evidently the true one- but I have never set properly to it yet- moreover I am brutally ignorant of the ordinary undulatory theory at present. I shall not understand your paper therefore at first but I shall [?] to it. It has for some time seemed to me pretty clear that we have no direct way of acting on moving the ether. We can move matter and orderly forces and so the Ether which cling to it (après Fresnel Fizeante) or we can move more Electricity and electromotive forces, but then Electricty is certainly not Ether because it has no inertia. My whim, which I think you don't..."
Transcription:
"My dear Fitzgerald,
Many thanks for your kind and prompt reply. I see that I had run against a wrong idea respecting EM propagation. I thought Maxwell talking of its [r?] all through but I see now that it is only of the wave motion which the EM induction considers to be analogue to diffusion or heat conduction which of course has no [?]. I am very glad to have this connected. I should greatly like to see your paper (and any others you can show of yours) for I want to get hold of the EM theory of light as it is evidently the true one- but I have never set properly to it yet- moreover I am brutally ignorant of the ordinary undulatory theory at present. I shall not understand your paper therefore at first but I shall [?] to it. It has for some time seemed to me pretty clear that we have no direct way of acting on moving the ether. We can move matter and orderly forces and so the Ether which cling to it (après Fresnel Fizeante) or we can move more Electricity and electromotive forces, but then Electricty is certainly not Ether because it has no inertia. My whim, which I think you don't..."
Source
RDS Library & Archives GFF collection of letters
Rights
Copyright RDS Library & Archives. Publication, transmission or display is prohibited without formal written approval of the RDS Library & Archives.
Relation
RDS Science Archive
Format
Manuscript
Language
English
Type
Coverage
1870-1901
Collection
Citation
Lodge, Oliver, Sir, 1851-1940, “[Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Sir Oliver Lodge],,” RDS Digital Archive, accessed July 10, 2025, https://digitalarchive.rds.ie/items/show/1272.