The First of Maxwell''s Followers’: Towards a Careful Perusal of Oliver Heaviside’s "A Gravitational and Electromagnetic Analogy" (1893)
History of studies in electromagnetic phenomena and process is one of the most interesting fields of history of physics. The subject matter of my paper is contribution of Oliver Heaviside, who (together with H. Hertz) continued the ‘Copernican revolution’ in the electromagnetic theory, initiated by Maxwell. Using biographical, historical-genetic and textual analysis and descriptive method, I examine scientific biography of Heaviside in the matter of electromagnetic theory development. He deserves credit for creating the theory of electrical signals transmission over long distances; he was the first to introduce magnetic charges and magnetic currents into Maxwell's electrodynamics. Investigating the possibility of propagation of radio waves around the Earth, Heaviside suggested the existence of an ionized layer in the terrestrial atmosphere. As for "A Gravitational and Electromagnetic Analogy" (1983), in this paper Heaviside noted the possibility of the existence of an analogy between electromagnetic and gravitational fields, proposed gravitational equations similar to Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic field, and concluded that propagation speed of gravitational effect should be the same as of light (he suggested this long before the creation of the relativity theory). Before publishing the Russian translation of this Heaviside’s paper, I also considered it necessary to draw readers' attention to certain circumstances. The first is the fact that according to the views of the turn of the 19th and 20th cc., electromagnetic waves propagate in a special medium that fills a vacuum. Therefore, describing propagation of electromagnetic waves in a vacuum, Heaviside writes about their propagation in the ether. But the mathematical apparatus of Maxwell's theory did not depend on such a verbal substitution; therefore considering the inconsistency of the etheric theory, when reading Heaviside, the word ‘ether’ must be replaced by the word ‘vacuum’. Secondly, we must bear in mind that in this article Heaviside uses the word эmatterэ as a synonym for the word эsubstanceэ. Finally, thirdly, one of the most characteristic features of Heaviside's style is that in his works a strict scientific presentation of the material alternates with ironic remarks.