THE ETHER OF SPACE ACCORDING TO CHARLES LEADBEATER AND ANNIE BESANT

Charles Leadbeater and Annie Besant wrote in their book "Occult Chemistry" (edition of 1919):

« Each condition, and there are many more than the two under consideration, blends with its neighbour, via atomic structure. Thus the atoms of the Astral plane in combination give rise to the finest variety of physical matter, the ether of space, which is not homogeneous but really atomic in its character, and the minute atoms of which physical molecules are composed are atoms of ether, "etheric atoms," as we have now learned to call them. 

Many physicists, though not all, will resent the idea of treating the ether of space as atomic. But at all events the occultist has the satisfaction of knowing that the great Russian chemist, Mendeleef, preferred the atomic theory.

In Sir William Tilden's recent book entitled "Chemical Discovery and Invention in the Twentieth Century," I read that Mendeleef, "disregarding conventional views," supposed the ether to have a molecular or atomic structure, and in time all physicists must come to recognise that the Electron is not, as so many suppose at present, an atom of electricity, but an atom of ether carrying a definite unit charge of electricity.

. . .

The ether of space, though defying instrumental examination, comes within scope of the clairvoyant faculty, and profoundly interesting discoveries were made during what I have called the early research in connexion with that branch of the inquiry. »

(Chapter 1)

OBSERVATIONS

Scientists of previous centuries theorized that an invisible fluid might exist, filling all of space and constituting the medium for transmitting the various manifestations of energy (heat, light, magnetism, etc.).

They called this hypothetical fluid: "ether".

But the negative result of the Michelson-Morley experiment in 1887 led scientists to believe that the ether did not exist, and the theory of relativity published in 1905 by Albert Einstein finally convinced the scientific community to completely discard the ether theory.

This shows how charlatans Charles Leadbeater and Annie Besant were, but also how little they informed themselves, because by the time they republished their book in 1919, fourteen years had already passed since scientists had completely rejected the existence of the ether of space.