Adventures in CyberSound: From Obscurity to Enigma : The Work of Oliver Heaviside

A D V E N T U R E S in C Y B E R S O U N D

From Obscurity to Enigma : The Work of Oliver Heaviside by I. Yavetz

The contributions to electromagnetism, electrical engineering, and applied mathematics by Oliver Heaviside (1872 - 1891) have consistently attracted attention over the years. Of late they have become a major source for the study of the development of field theory after Maxwell.

From Obscurity to Enigma is a systematic, in-depth study of the most creative period in Heaviside's scientific career. During this period he wrote the essays and articles that constitute his two-volume Electrical Papers.

Here he presented his novel reformulation of Maxwell's equations, created the elements of vector algebra, produced the first comprehensive theory of transmission lines, suggested the inductive "loading" of telegraph and telephone lines to improve long-distance communications, introduced his innovative version of the operational calculus, and made several important contributions to the electrodynamics of moving bodies.

'From Obscurity to Enigma' traces the evolution of Heaviside's ideas against the background of growing knowledge in basic electromagnetic theory, telegraphy, and telephony at the time. It reveals the thematic coherence that unifies his various publications, and sheds considerable light on the reasons for the exclamations of incomprehension that greeted his work from the time of its publication to the present.

The book is an important contribution to the history of science and technology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and will be appreciated by electrical engineers, physicists, and applied mathematicians, many of whom are aware of Heaviside's contributions to their respective fields.

Contents:

Chapter I - The Enigmatic Legacy of Oliver Heaviside

1. Introduction

2. Oliver Heaviside as a Lone Wolf

3. The Character of Heaviside's Work

4. Outline of this Book

Chapter II - Outlining the Way

1. Early Lessons: Electrical and Mathematical

Electrical and Mathematical Manipulation
Three Examples of Electro-Mathematical Reasoning

2. At the Crossroads: Two Ways of Looking at a Transmission Line

"On Induction Between Parallel Wires"
Reconsidering the Problem in Light of Kirchoff's Circuit Laws
From Electromagnetism to Electrodynamics
Playing Both Sides of the Court

3. The Solution of the Non-Leaking Transmission Line, a General Comment on Leakage, and a Nagging Puzzle

4. Summary, and a First Hint of the Puzzle's Solution

Chapter III - The Maxwellian Outlook

1. A New Theme and a New Approach

2. Magnetic field of a Straight Wire and a First Generalization

3. A breach of Continuity?

4. Introduction to Field Thinking for the Intelligent Non-Mathematical Electrician

"Curling": Learning to See Vector Fields
Vector and Scalar Potentials: Using Electrostatics as an Analogy
Introducing the Algebra of Vectors
Stokes' Theorem: From the Physics of Currents and Fields to the Mathematics of Vectors
The Importance of Keeping the Vector in Mind: The Case of the Earth's Return Current and the Essence of Mathematical Manipulation
"To fit current and magnetic force into the system": From the Mathematics of Vectors Back to the Physics of Currents and Fields
The Energy of Two Current Loops and the Priority of Physics
The Mutual Energy of Any Two Current Distributions
The Third Expression for the Energy
Where is the Energy?
Energy Conservation, Ohm's Law, and the Nature of the Electric Current
The General Role of Energy Considerations in Heaviside's Work
"On Explanation and Speculation in Physical Questions"

5. Heaviside's Rough Sketch of Maxwell's Theory

Taking the Presence of Matter into Consideration
Electric Displacement and the Case against
The Cardinal Feature of Maxwell's Theory: The Displacement Current
Magnetic Induction and Completion of the Rough Sketch
Circuits, Forces and the Equation of Energy Transfer: The Origins of Heaviside's Duplex Equations

6. There Must be Ether

7. Recapitulation: The Straight Conducting Wire Revisited

8. Conclusions