Introduction - Revolutions

The Theory of Elementary Waves is Revolutionary

If Lewis Little's Theory of Elementary Waves is a true reflection of reality, it will lead to a revolution in physics. The purpose of this blog is to test this new theory to see if it can explain some key experiments from the 18th and 19th centuries. I am starting with those experiments because, firstly, they are easier to understand and reproduce, and, secondly, if the theory can't account for these classic experiments, there's no point in trying to apply it to the more complex experiments of the 20th and 21st century.

When I say the theory is revolutionary, I'm using the term in the sense that Thomas Kuhn used in his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Some examples of revolutionary theories from his book are:

• The Copernican revolution (the earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa)
• Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity
• The Germ Theory of disease
• Dalton's Atomic Theory of chemistry

These were all ideas that changed the way scientists looked at the world. As Kuhn shows in his book, most revolutionary theories are initially met with resistance, particularly by scientists who have been trained and worked with the previous paradigm. Usually, a new theory is not adopted until a new generation of scientists accepts it and begins to spread the ideas to the next generation. I don't expect the adoption of The Theory of Elementary Waves—if it is indeed a good theory—to be any different.

Dr. Little first published his theory in 1996 in Physics Essays and followed up with a book in 2009. As of 2016, there is very little acceptance of the theory in professional physics circles. Of course, if the theory is flawed, mistaken, or contradicts experiment, then the current group of practicing physicists would be justified in ignoring the theory. However, if the theory is viable but represented a revolution to the field of physics, then, according to Kuhn's study of history, the vast majority of physicists would still ignore the theory because it would be a threat to their existing paradigm.

Clearly, the non-acceptance of The Theory of Elementary Waves is not a useful indicator of it's ability to explain nature. Rather, we need to test it out for ourselves which will be the subject of the rest of this blog.

Next:  Experiments to test the Theory of Elementary Waves