Irish physicist who developed the theory of the ethereal plenum to incorporate Maxwell's electromagnetic theory of light. He proposed a mechanical ether model involving wheels and runner bands. He also suggested that matter was composed of closed vortex rings. Independently of Lorentz, he suggested the null result of the Michelson-Morley experiment resulted from a contraction of the arms of the interferometer in the direction of the Earth's motion. For more details, see Pais (1982, p. 123). Independently of Larmor and Schuster, Fitzgerald developed a theory in which spectra were explained by the oscillation of electrons.

Larmor, Lorentz, Maxwell, Michelson, Morley (Edward), Schuster

Additional biographies: MacTutor (St. Andrews)