[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-153736-en":3,"doc-seo-153736-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":11,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},153736,2336474459895,"Gloria","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000baeef7a5ed0655?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786071322749376916",2,"Literature","Swept Over an Etheric Niagara - The Persistence of the Etheric Hypothesis in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Challenger Stories","This article examines why Arthur Conan Doyle continued to use the luminiferous ether in his Professor Challenger science-fiction stories, even after Einstein’s special theory of relativity had begun to gain acceptance. It argues that the etheric hypothesis is fundamental to the narratives’ plots and universe, not a careless error or mere plot convenience. The ether is framed as a mechanism fusing physical and metaphysical realms, aligning with Doyle’s Spiritualism and enabling a cosmos that counters post-war cultural meaninglessness.","Journal of Literature and Science  \nVolume 8, No. 2 (2015)  \nISSN 1754-646X  \nAlex Moffett,“Swept Over an Etheric Niagara: The Persistence of the Etheric Hypothesis”: 36-52  \nSwept Over an Etheric Niagara: The Persistence of the Etheric Hypothesis in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Challenger Stories  \nAlex Moffett  \nArthur Conan Doyle is often considered to be the exemplar of detective fiction authorship, the man who both created the most popular literary character in the history of the English language, and who crafted so many of the tropes that are present in similar fictions in literature, film, and television. However, if Sherlock Holmes had never existed, Doyle might principally be known as a writer of science fiction. The most popular of his science fiction stories are those featuring the brilliant and irascible Professor Challenger. Beginning in the immensely popular The Lost World (1912), and continuing in four further works of varying lengths, Doyle presented Challenger as an iconoclastic genius, one who exists outside the scientific establishment and who resists its hidebound conventionality. While Doyle prided himself on his scientific knowledge, to the first time reader this interest is not immediately evident in the Challenger stories; as Jacqueline Jaffe argues,“Doyle’s stories use the atmosphere of science, or the trappings of science…. Science is merely the peg on which the adventure hangs”(91) . However, there is an important scientific hypothesis present in four of the five Challenger stories. Each of these four stories relies upon the concept of the luminiferous ether, an invisible medium that was thought by some scientists to permeate empty space. The concept of the ether was rendered obsolete by the publication of Einstein’s special theory of relativity, which did not require a fixed medium in space to be used as a point of reference. Since the special theory of relativity had not made much headway in the English-speaking world by 1913, the year the second Challenger science fiction novel The Poison Belt was published, Doyle’s use of the luminiferous ether in that text is quite understandable. What is more remarkable, though, is his continued use of the ether in his Challenger stories of the 1920s, well after the first empirical verifications of Einstein’s theories and their growing acceptance by both the scientific community and the educated British public more generally (Clark 295-310) .  \nWhy did Doyle continue with the etheric hypothesis for so long? In beginning to answer this question, it is worth noting that the ether is not merely tangential to the narratives of the later Challenger stories; rather, it is absolutely fundamental. Theetheric hypothesis provides the essential underpinning for both the plots of the stories and for their collectively imagined universe. The events in these narratives could not possibly occur in a relativistic cosmos; these stories simply could not exist without the ether. Consequently, this persistent and crucial presence of the ether suggests that for Doyle, etheric theory represented something more significant than a convenient ad hoc plot device for these stories. This article explores this significance, and suggests that the presence of the ether in the Challenger narratives should be read neither as ignorance, nor intellectual laziness, nor a careless error, but rather as an essential component of the universe Doyle imagines. The ether functions as a mechanism for a fusion of the physical and metaphysical worlds, allowing Doyle to conceive a holistic cosmos that conjoins science and religion. This fusion is influenced by, and consonant with, Doyle’s belief in Spiritualism, which also adumbrated a link between science and mysticism. More generally, Doyle’s employment of the etheric hypothesis provides a cosmos more congenial to the masculine ethos that he admired. It asserts  \npresence, rather than absence, and substitutes an apprehendable and explorable universe for an empty ","cbCaivESHHu7nMSA","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivESHHu7nMSA","pdf",487702,1,17,"English","en",105,"# Introduction: Challenger, science, and the ether\n## The luminiferous ether in Doyle’s Challenger stories\n## Why the etheric hypothesis persists\n## Ether, worldview, and the fusion of science and mysticism","[{\"question\":\"What is the main focus of the article?\",\"answer\":\"The article investigates the persistence of the luminiferous ether hypothesis in Doyle’s Professor Challenger stories and what that persistence signifies.\"},{\"question\":\"Why did Doyle continue using ether after Einstein’s relativity gained acceptance?\",\"answer\":\"It argues the ether is fundamental to the stories’ plots and universe, suggesting Doyle viewed etheric theory as essential rather than a convenient device.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article connect the ether hypothesis to Doyle’s beliefs?\",\"answer\":\"It links the ether to Doyle’s Spiritualism, presenting ether as a mechanism that fuses physical and metaphysical worlds and supports a holistic cosmos combining science and religion.\"}]","Swept Over an Etheric Niagara - The Persistence of the Etheric Hypothesis in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Challenger Stories | PDF",1787881358,26,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"swept-over-an-etheric-niagara-the-persistence-of-the-etheric-hypothesis-in-arthur-conan-doyles-challenger-stories","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/swept-over-an-etheric-niagara-the-persistence-of-the-etheric-hypothesis-in-arthur-conan-doyles-challenger-stories/153736/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-06","2026-08-28",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":11},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is the main focus of the article?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"The article investigates the persistence of the luminiferous ether hypothesis in Doyle’s Professor Challenger stories and what that persistence signifies.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"Why did Doyle continue using ether after Einstein’s relativity gained acceptance?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"It argues the ether is fundamental to the stories’ plots and universe, suggesting Doyle viewed etheric theory as essential rather than a convenient device.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"How does the article connect the ether hypothesis to Doyle’s beliefs?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"It links the ether to Doyle’s Spiritualism, presenting ether as a mechanism that fuses physical and metaphysical worlds and supports a holistic cosmos combining science and religion.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,100,104,109,114,119,124,129,132,136],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]