Water waves are movements in water, so light waves are movements in… aether. At least that was the leading theory in the 18th century. Sounds simple enough but nailing down what this aether is leads to curious properties. In truth light waves are quite different from water waves in many respects including that their speed is constant no matter how fast you yourself are going. The history of aether theory is tied to the emergence of both quantum theory and relativity. It records how scientists struggled to let go of their intuition and see the reality of space and time in a new light. Join us on our mission to understand the true nature of light and listen to this week’s episode of Good in Theory.

Naming the planet closest to the sun after the roman god of fire seems appropriate. The problem: it doesn’t exist. When confronted with data of planetary movements that do not fit your calculations you have two options: your theory is wrong or there is some big object influencing the planetary motion that you did not take into account. Since the latter turned out to be the case once before - and led to the discovery of Neptune - you might want to go that route again. At least that was what Urbain Le Verrier did. To hear more about the search for the mysterious planet of Vulcan and what Einstein has to do with all this, listen to this week's episode of Good in Theory.

Created and produced by: Rita Neves and Sofie Ried

Intro/outro music: Andrew Glover