Abstract

In this paperPhilosophy, I argue that, contraryPhilosophy of Physics to what many historians have claimed, the hidden-masses mechanics introduced by Heinrich Hertz[aut]Hertz Heinrich in his PrinciplesPrinciple did inspire reflections within fundamental physicsPhysics concerning the role played by the ether. This occurred in particular in the context of the electromagnetic worldview, a program for the reduction of the whole of physicsPhysics to electromagnetism that emerged a few years after Principles was published. This worldview was, however, short-lived, as it was soon more or less replaced by the theory of relativity. In the second part of the paper, I will discuss how Albert Einstein[aut]Einstein, Albertand Max Planck[aut]Planck, Max formulated the relativistic response to the electromagnetic worldview. This will then lead me to suggest that, in a sense, this relativistic response, even though it differed profoundly from the electromagnetic worldview, could equally well be characterized as Hertzian.