| RefNo | MS/603/3/50 |
| Previous numbers | 449 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from Geo Fras [George Francis] Fitzgerald, Trinity College, Dublin, to [Joseph] Larmor |
| Creator | FitzGerald; George Francis (1851-1901); Irish theoretical physicist |
| Recipient | Larmor; Sir Joseph (1857-1942); Irish theoretical physicist |
| Date | 3 April 1894 |
| Description | Fitzgerald returns Larmor's notes with his own annotations. He thinks that Larmor has taken refuge in the medium being discrete in structure. Fitzgerald believes that the paper would be more intelligible if the medium consisted of discrete elements. He thinks Larmor's theory is the same as J.J.'s [Joseph John Thomson's, as a dynamical explanation of Thomson's], which is purely descriptive; Thomson's description would fit Larmor's theory. Fitzgerald notes the one real difficulty, in that actual motion is in no case known to combine with magnetic force, the rotation of the Earth not being a case in point. He considers how Larmor's work relates to Lord Kelvin's, and to Clifford. [Oliver] Heaviside suggests Larmor's analysis but discards it, thinking that it is not possible to deduce the mechanical force on charged currented bodies, which Fitzgerald disagrees with. The only difficulty would be in what superficial assumptions Larmor might make. |
| Extent | 4p. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA7971 | Fitzgerald; George Francis (1851 - 1901) | 1851 - 1901 |