Waving:

Huygens's colleagues had problem accepting his wave theory, even whenever they saw the explanations with their own eyes. They had a few troublesome questions to ask. What "does the waving" in the light-wave disturbance? Whenever light passes via the atmosphere, does the air vibrate? If so, why cannot we hear it? If not, why not? Whenever light waves go into water, does the water ripple? If so, why doesn't it make ripples on the surface? If not, then why not? How about light passing via an evacuated chamber? When visible light is caused by physical oscillations, why does a glass jar with entire air pumped out emerge transparent instead of opaque? After all, there is nothing in an emptied jar to "do the waving"-is there?

In the year1800s, an effort was made to answer these questions by postulating the existence of luminiferous ether, a medium which was predictable to permeate all of space. In the early year of 1900s, a free-thinking European theorist named Albert Einstein determined that the ether theory was garbage. You will learn about the consequences of Einstein's rejection of the ether theory.

What "does the waving" in an EM disturbance? This question yet baffles the scientists. Electrical and Magnetic fields existing at right angles to each other and oscillating at tremendously high rates act in synergy to propagate via all types of media. The intensity of the fields "does the waving," though such fields are not material things. They are presences, or effects, which cause certain things to occur to matter and energy even however the fields themselves are intangible.