Joseph Smith as Scientist. IV

IMPROVEMENT ERA. Vol, Vn. FEBRUARY, 1904. No. 4. JOSEPH SMITH
AS SCIENTIST. BY DR.
JOHN A.
WIDTSOE,
DIRECTOR
OF THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT
STATION,
LOGAN,
UTAH. IV.— THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE. The nature of light has been in every age a fascinating sub- ject for study and reflection. Descartes, the French mathema- tician and philosopher, advanced the hypothesis that light con- sists of small particles emitted by luminous bodies, and that the sensation of light is produced by the impact of these particles up- on the retina of the eye. Soon after this emission or corpuscular theory had been proposed, Hooke, an English investigator of great note, stated publicly that the phenomena of light, as he had ob- served them, led him to the belief that the nature of light could best be explained on the assumption that light was a kind of un- dulation or wave in some unknown medium, and that the sensa- tion of light was produced when these waves struck upon the ret- ina of the eye. This new hypothesis, known as the theory of un- dulations, after the great Isaac Newton had declared himself in favor of the corpuscular theory, was finally adjudged by the ma- jority of students to be erroneous. About the year 1800, more than a century after the days of Descartes,
Hooke
and
Newton,
an
English
physician,
Dr.

242 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Thomas Young, who had long experimented on the nature of light, asserted that the emission theory could not explain many of the best known phenomena of light. Dr. Young further claimed that correct explanations could be made only by the theory of waves of undulation of an etherial medium diffused through space, and pre- sented numerous experimental evidences in favor of this view. This revival of the old theory of undulation met at first with vio- lent opposition from many of the greatest scientific minds of the day. Sometime after Dr. Young's publication, a French army offi- cer, Augustine Fresnel, undertook the study of the nature of light, and arrived, almost independently, at the conclusion stated by Dr. Young. Later, other investigators discovered light phenomena which could be explained only on the undulatory hypothesis, and so, little by little, the new theory gained ground and adherents. Still, even as late as 1827, the astronomer Herschel published a treatise on light, in which he appeared to hold the real merit of the theory of undulations in grave doubt.* Likewise, the Imperial Academy at St. Petersburg, in 1826, proposed a prize for the best attempt to relieve the undulatory theory of light of some of the main objections against it.f It was several years later before the great majority of the scientific world accepted the theory of un- dulations as the correct explanation of the phenomena of light. In brief, this theory assumes that a very attenuated, but very elastic, substance, called the luminiferous ether, fills all space, and is found surrounding the ultimate particles of matter. Thus, the pores of wood, soil, lead, gold and the human body, are filled with the luminiferous ether; and it is quite impossible by any known process to obtain a portion of space free from it. A luminous body is one in which the ultimate particles, the atoms or molecules, are moving very rapidly, and thus causing disturbances in the ether, similar to the disturbances in quiet water when a rock is thrown into it; and, like the water wave, proceeding from the point of disturbance, so the ether waves radiate from the luminous body into space.
When a wave strikes the retina of the eye, the sensa- * History of the Inductive Sciences, Whewell, 3rd
edition.
Vol. II, p. 114. t Loc. eit, 117.

JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIEhiTIST. 243 tion of light is produced.
This new-found ether was soon used for the explanation of other natural phenomena. The nature of heat had long been discussed when the world of science decided in favor of the undulatory theory of light. One school held that the sensation of heat was caused by the cannon- ading of heat particles by the heated body; the other school, with few adherents, insisted that heat was simply a form of motion of the luminiferous ether already adopted in the theory of light. The later discoveries of science proved with considerable certainty that the undulatory theory of heat is right, but it was well towards the middle of the last century before the emission theory of heat lost its ground. In fact, Dr. Whewell, in the third edition of his classic book on the History of Inductive Sciences, published in 1859, says that the undulatory theory of heat "has not by any means received full confirmation;" * and Dr. John Tyndall, in a book published in 1880, says, that the emission theory "held its ground until quite recently among the chemists of our own day."t Today, the evi- dences of modern science are overwhelmingly in favor of the undu- latorv theory of heat. The wonderful developments of the last century, in electricity and magnetism, led to much speculation concerning the nature of the subtle electrical and magnetic forces. The most popular theo- ries for many years were those that presupposed various electrical and magnetic fluids, which could be collected, conducted, dispersed and otherwise controlled. In 1867, the eminent English mathe- matician. Clerk Maxwell, proposed the theory that electrical and magnetic phenomena were simply peculiar motions of the ether, bearing definite relationship to light waves. Later researches, one result of which is the now famous Roentgen or X-rays, have tended to confirm Maxwell's theory. A recent text-book on physics, of unquestioned authority,! states that the ether theory of electricity and magnetism is now susceptible of direct demonstration; and another eminent authority frankly states that "when we explain *Vol. II, p. 184. fflitaf, A Mode of Motion, Tyndall, 6th ed., p. 38. X Lehrhueh der Physik, Riecke, (1896), 2ter band. p. 315.

244 IMPROVEMENT ERA. the nature of electricity, we explain it by a motion of the luminif- erous ether."* Other recent discoveries have hinted at the possibility of mat- ter itself being only the result of peculiar forms of this all-per- vading substance, the luminif erous ether. At the present writing, the properties of the so-called element radium, suggests the possi- bility of a better understanding of the nature of the ether, and of its relation to the world of phenomena. That the present knowledge of the world of science compels a faith in an all-pervading substance, of marvelous properties, and of intimate relationship to all forms of energy, is shown by the following quotations from Lord Kelvin, who is generally regarded as the world's greatest physicist: "The luminif erous ether, that is the only substance we are confident of in dynamics. One thing we are sure of, and that is the reality and substantiality of the lumin- if erous ether." "What can this luminif erous ether be? It is some- thing that the planets move through with the greatest ease. It permeates our air; it is nearly in the same condition, so far as our means of judging are concerned, in our air and in the interplane- tary space." "You may regard the existence of the luminiferous ether as a reality of science." "It is matter prodigiously less dense than air— of such density as not to produce the slightest re- sistance to any body going through it."t Joseph Smith, in a revelation received on December 27, 1832, wrote: "The light which now shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space. The light which is in all things: which is the law by which all things are governed: even the power of God." J This quotation gives undoubted evidence of the Prophet's be- lief that space is filled with some substance which bears important relations to all natural phenomena.
The word substance is used * Popular Lectures and Addresses, Kelvin (1891) Vol. 1, page 334. t Kelvin's Lectures, Vol. 1, pp. 317, 334, 336, 354. $ Doctrine and Covenants, section 88: 11-13.

JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIENTIST. 245 advisedly; for in various places in the writings of Joseph Smith, light, used as above in a general sense, means spirit,* and "all spirit is matter, but it is more fine and pure."t True, the passage above quoted does not furnish detailed ex- planation of the Prophet's view concerning the substance filling all space, but it must be remembered that it is simply an incidental paragraph in a chapter of religious instruction. True, also, the Prophet goes farther than some modern scientists, when he says that this universal substance bears a controlling relation to all things; yet, when it is recalled that eminent, sober students have suggested that the facts of science make it possible to believe that matter itself is simply a phenomena of the universal ether, the statement of the "Mormon" prophet seems very reasonable. The paragraph already quoted is not an accidental arrangement of words suggesting an idea not intended by the Prophet, for in other places, he presents the idea of an omnipresent substance binding all things together. For instance, in speaking of the controlling power of the universe he -says: "He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things."! That Joseph Smith does not here have in mind an omnipresent God, is proved by the emphatic doctrine that God is personal and cannot be everywhere present.§ Lest it be thought that the words are forced, for argument's sake, to give the desired meaning, it may be well to examine the views of some of the persons to whom the Prophet explained in detail the meanings of the statements in the revelations which he claimed to have received from God. Parley P. Pratt, who, as a member of the first quorum of apostles, had every opportunity of obtaining the Prophet's views on any subject, wrote in considerable fullness on the subject of the Holy Spirit, or the light of truth: * Doctrine and Covenants, 84: 45. t Ibid, 131: 7. t Ibid, 88: 41. § Ibid, 130: 22.

246 lMtROVEMENT ERA. "As the mind passes the boundaries of the visible world, and enters upon the confines of the more refined and subtle elements, it finds itself associated with certain substances in themselves in- visible to our gross organs, but clearly manifested to our intellect by their tangible operations and effects." "The purest, most re- fined and subtle of all these substances — is that substance called the Holy Spirit." "It is omnipresent." "It is in its less refined particles, the physical light which reflects from the sun, moon and stars, and other substances; and by reflection on the eye makes visible the truths of the outward world." Orson Pratt, another member of the first quorum of apostles, who lived in the Prophet's household for some time, wrote about the Holy Spirit, in 1849, as follows, 'It exists in different parts of space in greater or less degrees of density, like heat, light or electricity.t Such quotations, from the men intimately associated with the early history of the Church, prove that Joseph Smith taught in clearness the doctrine that a subtle form of matter, call it luminif- erous ether or Holy Spirit, pervades all space; that all phenomena of nature, including, specifically, heat, light and electricity, are definitely connected with this substance. He taught much else concerning this substance which science will soon discover, but which lies without the province of this paper to discuss. It must not be overlooked that the broad statement of this doctrine was made by Joseph Smith, at least as early as 1832, at a time when the explanation of light phenomena on the hypothesis of a universal ether was just beginning to find currency among learned men; and many years before the same hypothesis was accepted in explaining the phenomena of heat and electricity. The idea of an influence pervading the universe is not of it- self new. Poets and philosophers of all ages have suggested it in a vague, hesitating manner, without connecting it with the phenom- ena of nature, but burdening it with the greatest absurdity of re- ligion or philosophy, that of immaterialism. Joseph Smith said the doctrine had been taught him by God, and gave it to the world un- * Key to Theology, 5th ed., pp. 38-41. ■\ Ahmrdities of Immaterialism, ed. of 1849, p. 25.

JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIENTIST. 247 hesitatingly and rationally. The men of science, to whom Joseph Smith appears only an impostor, and who know nothing of his writings, have later discovered the truth for themselves, and in- corporated it in their books of learning. Had Joseph Smith been the clever impostor that some claim he was, he probably would not have dealt in any way with the theo- ries of the material world, at least would not have claimed revela- tions laying down physical laws; had he been the stupid fool, others tell us he was, his mind would not have worried itself with the fundamental problems of nature. However all that may be, it is certain that Joseph Smith, in the broad and rational statement of the existence of an omnipres- ent, material though subtle substance, anticipated the workers in science. In view of that fact, it is not improbable that at some future time, when science shall have gained a wider view, the his- torian of the physical sciences will say that Joseph Smith, the clear- sighted, first stated correctly the fundamental physical doctrine of the luminiferous ether. (to be continued). 'PRO
DEO." They who go forth to save the souls of men From death, and win the wayward to the cause of God, Should be the strong of faith, the pure of heart; Who carry on their sinless lips the holy name of Christ,. And in whose hearts, burning with penitential fire. Free from the dross of earth, through sacrifice and pain, The kingdom of our Father reigns supreme. — George E. Blair.