Jeff Root wrote in message
om...
In another thread, George Dishman explained:

I think you understand my point of view here, that 'x' and 'y'
are conceptual while the paper that holds the dots apart is real.

Could you apply this same kind of wonderfully clear exegesis to
the term "magnetic lines of force"? I keep seeing intimations
that they have some kind of reality. Thank you!

Magnetic lines of force were first described by Faraday. (Faraday,
"Experimental Researches")

And yes, they do have 'some kind of reality'. Sprinkle iron filings on a
sheet of paper, then bring a strong magnet around. Always the same pattern
at a given distance and orientation.

Maxwell developed 'Maxwell's equations' and first identified light as
transverse electromagnetic waves in a paper titled "On Physical Lines of
Force", 1861. Based -- in part -- on Faraday's work. Maxwell also produced
an earlier paper:
Cambridge Philosophical Transactions, vol. x. part 1. art. 3, "On Faraday's
Lines of Force."


greywolf42
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