| Description | He almost telegraphed Larmor, but hopes a letter will reach him before he starts for America. Lodge has felt temprarily doubtful on the propriety of putting Larmor's note as an appendix to his paper, except the portion which calculates the angular displacement caused by the passage of an electron. He is also unclear about the theory of magnetic circulation. He queries why the gyrostatic cells which travel around lines of force shoul dbe rotated in doing so, rather than being simply translated. He also questions what checks an electron if the magnetic force is in the same direction; it must have momentum unless there is some elastic resistance, but he sees no reason for that. He wonders if a travelling electron might be 'always spinning a fine cobweb of matter behind it, or rather a filament which will aggregate into matter'. He also queries if the electron is spinning the aether, 'why does it not screw itself round in the opposite direction'. He has had little time to think about Larmor's letter but would like to hear Larmor's thoughts on rotational difficulties and Poincaré's controversies, and if these should be in an appendix. The plan would be to introduce Larmor's calculation then refer briefly to the rotational aether difficulties.
On a separate sheet marked 'To be read first', Lodge thinks their letters will cross, and he will act upon Larmor's letter. He thinks that the best thing to do would be to print Larmor's appendix as he has written it, which will add to the value of the paper. |